Missed opportunities cost San Diego Wave in home loss to Racing Louisville

San Diego Wave coach Jonas Eidevall gathered his team after another disappointing home result — a 1-0 loss to Racing Louisville. He spoke to them about staying together after a tough outcome.

Sunday night’s match marked the fourth straight time the Wave failed to win at Snapdragon Stadium, their last home victory coming on May 25.

And while the Wave (8-4-5) are still in a good place — they’re third in the National Women’s Soccer League standings — there remains some cause for concern.

“I think his biggest thing was that we need to stay together like we win games as a team, we lose games as a team, but we need to stick together,” Wave defender Kennedy Wesley said after the match. “It’s not a time to go inward and kind of blame each other. Ultimately, we lost as a team today, and we know that every one of us can be better individually, and we can get a lot better as a collective.”

Seventeen games into the season, San Diego has proven to be stronger on the road (5-1-2) than at home (3-3-3).

In recent weeks, Eidevall has repeatedly said that opposing teams raise their level in the second half. On Sunday, however, he pointed instead pointed to San Diego’s lapses during Louisville’s goal, while also noting there were several factors behind the defeat.

“We don’t get the result because there are tons of things that we can do better, and that’s where our focus needs to be on,” Eidevall said. “That’s for the players and the team. But it’s also true for me.”

The Wave dominated early possession, holding the ball for 74% of the first half and firing 10 shots — four of them on target.

Their best chance came in the closing minutes of the half. Wave midfielder Kenza Dali surged forward, with Adriana Leon breaking wide to her right and Gia Corley pushing to her left. Dali went left, drawing defenders with her, before slipping a clever pass to Leon.

Leon whipped the ball into the middle of the box, where Corley cut inside and fired a low shot toward the left corner only for it to rattle off the post. Both Leon and Corley threw their hands to their heads in disbelief.

Racing Louisville seized its moment after the break.

In the 59th minute, Ella Hase stole the ball from Hanna Lundkvist and played it to Sarah Weber, who returned it immediately. Hase then delivered a cross into the box, where Emma Sears chested it down and finished into the left side of the net for her seventh goal of the season.

Despite taking 22 shots, eight on target, the Wave couldn’t find the back of the net. It was the third time in their last five matches they were held scoreless.

“We have to zoom out a little bit, we have to see what we’re developing, what we’re building,” Eidevall said. “We need to regroup and go again.”

The Wave now turn their attention to a short week. They’ll travel to face the Seattle Reign on Friday.

“We’re not happy we’re not winning at home,” Eidevall said. “We want to do that. We want to do it for ourselves, for the club, for the owners, but also for the fans. Of course, we want to do that. So my message to them is, invest in us. Keep coming back. We need you, and together we can.”