Tom Krasovic: Wave aim to finally beat Seattle, build on brisk business
San Diego seeks to rebound from opening-night loss by beating Seattle -- formerly OL Reign -- Friday in Mission Valley. The San Diego Wave, founded by Jill Ellis and Ron Burkle, is aiming to secure their first victory in 10 games against the Seattle Reign. The Wave's home opener was attended by 32,066, the largest attendance in the National Women’s Soccer League. The franchise was sold for a record $112 million days earlier, and their new, hot-selling jerseys have been a significant boost for the Wave's business. Seattle, formerly known as OL Reign, is also dealing with the departure of key players, including forward Megan Rapinoe and U.S. Women's National Team midfielders Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett. Despite a 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Current last week, Wave coach Casey Stoney believes his team will perform better in the upcoming game.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Tom Krasovic in Sports
The San Diego Wave’s Sofia Jakobsson (10), right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring during last week’s home opener.
By the standards of women’s professional soccer, gold has been unearthed in east Mission Valley since Jill Ellis and Ron Burkle founded the Wave and moved them into San Diego State’s new stadium.
The Wave’s announced crowd of 32,066 last week stood as the largest for a home opener in the 12-year-old National Women’s Soccer League, punctuating the franchise’s sale for a record $112 million days earlier.
Couple that with their new, hot-selling jerseys — you don’t need to be Coco Chanel or Donna Karan to declare them a big upgrade from the past two seasons — and the Wave’s business side has started fast in 2024.
Now comes a fresh soccer opportunity Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium for a retooled Wave club (0-1) to earn the franchise’s first victory in 10 tries against the Seattle Reign (1-1), who’ve taken the “reign” part a little too literally where the Wave are concerned.
“We’ve never beaten Reign,” Wave coach Casey Stoney said, bringing up the topic this week. “So, we’re gonna have to do something on Friday night that we’ve never done before.”
If you can’t beat them, sign one of their players.
“It’s a new year, a new team and we’re excited to get going,” said ex-Reign forward and Wave newcomer Elyse Bennett, who played in 21 matches with Seattle last year but not its 1-0 NWSL semifinal victory Nov. 5 in San Diego. “There’s a lot of different things that we can do to hopefully exploit them in different spaces. Every team gives you different problems. We know that Seattle’s a great team. They always are. It’s just picking apart different ways to score goals and win the game.”
Having studied last week’s 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Current, the Wave intend to finish attacks much better. They possessed the ball for 70 percent of the second half last week, but did not score.
“We need to make sure we win our draws, we play fast, we play quick,” Stoney said. She added: “We have to build belief and confidence because, yeah, the result didn’t go our way. But, it wasn’t a terrible performance.”
The Wave got an early goal from forward Sofia Jakobsson, completing a sequence that began with newcomer Savannah McCaskill’s corner kick and was furthered by Alex Morgan’s shot on goal.
League MVP candidate Naomi Girma turned in another smooth match while working alongside Abby Dahlkemper in a pairing of standout central defenders.
The Reign took a 2-1 loss at Chicago on the same night. A week earlier Seattle, won its home opener, 1-0, against Washington.
About the same time the Wave were sold, the Reign fetched about half that sales price, going for $58 million to a private equity firm and the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.
Formerly known as OL Reign, Seattle faces a large task in trying to overcome the offseason departure of three stars: Forward Megan Rapinoe, who retired and understood how to attack Stoney’s defenses, and U.S. Women’s National Team midfielders Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett, versatile players who joined NJ/NY Gotham.
A mitigating force against a steep decline could be South Korean star Ji So-yun, 33, who delivered a high-caliber goal last week.
The 5-foot-3 1/2 midfielder put up 24 goals and 18 assists over 82 matches, as part of five Super League championship-winning seasons with English powerhouse Chelsea. Among her Super League opponents was Stoney, who called her “super-talented”.
The Wave have shown many times they can shut out any team’s top scorer. Against the Reign a recurring drag has been the Wave’s inability to crack coach Laura Harvey’s well-organized, physical defenses.
A potential solution could be ever-improving Jaedyn Shaw, 19. Though limited to 27 minutes, 13 touches and one shot in the opener, the 19-year-old Shaw has scored four goals in nine matches with the U.S. national team since Harvey’s club shut out the Wave in the playoffs.
Topics: Soccer