Crashing Wave hope return to Snapdragon can bring goals, a win

The San Diego Wave return to Snapdragon Stadium on Friday night to face the Orlando Pride, and no less than their entire 2025 season could be on the line.

A win in the 7:30 p.m. match would create separation between the Wave (8-6-7) and the bottom three teams in the NWSL playoff race. A loss, however, would allow Orlando (8-8-5) to leapfrog San Diego in the standings. With five regular-season matches remaining, the Wave are in a three-way tie for third place but just three points ahead of the eighth and final playoff team.

“We’re coming to an important point of the season,” Wave coach Jonas Eidevall said. “It’s the business end of the season, and we learned a lot of things about us as a team. They certainly did the same thing, and now I look forward to a competitive game.”

The last two months have been like a rip current for the Wave.

San Diego entered the NWSL’s international break boasting a 7-3-3 record. Since returning on Aug. 2, the Wave have slid backwards, going 1-4-3 and scoring just four total goals. They’ve been shut out four times.

“I think it’s still about focusing on ourselves and what we can do at training to prepare for the games,” forward Kimmi Ascanio said. “We’re working really hard and we’re focusing on the little things to get a result.”

The Wave are coming off a 1-1 draw against the Portland Thorns, where midfielder Savannah McCaskill scored her first goal of the season in the 56th minute.

San Diego then conceded its fourth game-tying or game-losing goal of the season.

This time it came in the 86th minute, when a free kick wasn’t cleared and Portland’s Reyna Reyes pounced to put it away, leveling the match.

Eidevall said the Wave have “a lot of positives to draw from” after the Portland match despite allowing the late equalizer.

“There are still details that we need to work with, of course, but we’re playing in a league where you do need to do a lot of things right in order to get the results you want,” he said.

It’s been a rough stretch, but with five matches left, hope remains.

“Nelson Mandela said that ‘I either win or learn,’ and I think that’s a good mindset to have. We always find out things about ourselves, things we need to do more of. We need to improve, and we definitely have been in that situation.”

Notable

San Diego will celebrate Noche Latina with a pregame block party at Snapdragon featuring musical performances from Mariachi Internacional San Diego, wrestlers from Global Lucha Libre and a special Dia de los Muertos-themed beer garden.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Ascanio, who is Latina. “Obviously, there’s a lot of Latino people here in San Diego, so I think it’s going to be a great night and a great opportunity for all of us to celebrate together.”

• Snapdragon Stadium hasn’t been the fortress the Wave had hoped for. They are 3-3-5 at home this season compared to 5-4-1 away.

San Diego Wave (8-6-7) vs. Orlando Pride (8-8-5)

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Where: Snapdragon Stadium

Streaming: Paramount+