Preview: Spirit looking for return to impressive road form in trip to California

San Diego, Calif. (06/21/2025) – The Washington Spirit will return to the west coast this weekend for a meeting with San Diego Wave FC at Snapdragon Stadium. Kicking off at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 22, the match will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network and stream on Monumental+.

  

The Spirit 

Washington enters Sunday night’s match coming off an away win streak-breaking 0-2 loss in Portland. Last weekend, the Spirit’s 5-0-0 away record on the season came to an end and the team dropped into fourth place on the NWSL table. With a win tomorrow night, the Spirit can jump back over San Diego and into third place. 

 

Despite last weekend’s loss, Washington’s 5-1-0 away record this season is still the best in the NWSL with first place Kansas City’s 5-2-0 away record close behind. The Spirit also hasn’t lost back-to-back away matches since September 2022, currently sitting at 35 straight away contests without consecutive losses. 

 

A win on Sunday can push the Spirit to an 8-4-1 record on the season, just one game behind it’s 9-3-1 record at the midway point in 2024. Washington can also take its first-ever win in San Diego on Sunday, as the side holds a 0-1-2 record on the road against Wave FC since the side’s inaugural season in 2022. 

 

The Spirit will face a tough Wave FC attack on Sunday as the side leads the NWSL in possession by a wide margin at over 58.6%. San Diego also leads the league in assists, with 20 of its 25 goals through 12 matches being assisted. Washington will need to limit its time out of possession and minimize chances for the home team as it looks to bring home three points. 

 

Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has the chance to add her name to another exclusive list of NWSL stars this weekend as well. Across her impressive career, Kingsbury has kept a clean sheet against 13 different NWSL clubs. With a shutout Sunday, Kingsbury can up that figure to 14, joining Alyssa Naeher, AD Franch and current San Diego keeper Kailen Sheridan as just the fourth keeper in league history to record a clean sheet against at least 14 clubs. 

 

The Spirit will send a number of players off for international duty after Sunday night’s match. Competing for their respective home countries during the upcoming international window will be Croix Bethune and Tara McKeown for the United States, Rebeca Bernal for Mexico, Gabby Carle for Canada, Narumi Miura for Japan, Esme Morgan for England at the Euros, Leicy Santos for Colombia and Makenna Morris for the U.S. U-23 team. 

 

Five Spirit players are set to face off against teammates during June/July international competition with the U.S. hosting Canada at the Spirit’s home of Audi Field on Wednesday, July 2 and Mexico hosting Colombia in two friendlies as well. 

  

The Opponent 

San Diego Wave FC enters Sunday’s match looking to close out a successful first half of the season on a high note. Following a difficult 2024 campaign in which the side missed the playoffs, Wave FC is seeing a return to success under first-year Head Coach Jonas Eidevall. Sitting third on the table through 12 matches, Wave FC has been a force in 2025. 

 

San Diego has the most assists (20) and second-most goals (25) in the league this season, also leading the NWSL in possession. These figures come in stark contrast to the attack for last year’s team, having already surpassed the side’s 2024 total goals in less than half the matches. The team’s 24 goals (excluding one score by own goal) have come from 13 different players, led by Adriana Leon’s four and three each from Kimmi Ascanio, Delphine Cascarino and María Sánchez. 

 

Wave FC has been one of the hottest teams in the league across the past two months, holding a record of 6-1-1 (19 points) in its last eight matches. The team has also only been shut out once this season, an April home match against the first place Kansas City Current. San Diego’s 23 points through 12 matches marks the best start in club history, even topping the 2023 Shield-winning team’s early pace. 

  

All-Time Series History 

The Spirit holds a 2-1-3 all-time record (all regular season) against San Diego Wave FC with a +2 goal differential (12-10). The sides have drawn in each of the past three meetings with one another, a 2-2 draw in July 2023 and two 1-1 draws last season. Washington will also be going for its first win in San Diego this weekend as the side holds a 0-1-2 record in the city since Wave FC’s inception in 2022. Since the Spirit’s loss to San Diego in the sides’ first-ever meeting in July 2022, the team has not lost in the series, going 2-0-3 across the past five meetings. 

   

Sunday’s match will be the first time these sides face off this season. They will meet again on Sunday, October 5 at Audi Field. Tickets are available at WashingtonSpirit.com/tickets. 

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