An attempted pass sailed into the soccer net, stunning both teams but ultimately defeating the Wave, 1-0, Sunday night in a National Women’s Soccer League semifinal playoff match before an announced crowd of 32,262 at Snapdragon Stadium.
OL Reign forward Veronica Latsko’s right-to-left service of 25 yards, a sharp-angled blow from near the goal line in the 47th minute, floated over Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan and inside the far post.
Latsko appeared incredulous as the net rippled.
“That,” she said, “was not supposed to be a shot.”
Not that intent mattered. Seattle’s Reign are headed to the National Women’s Soccer League’s championship match this Saturday at Snapdragon. The Wave walked off with their second semifinals defeat in as many seasons.
Unable to finish off numerous advances in the second half, the Wave will have to content themselves with having won the league’s regular-season title.
San Diego put no shots on goal in the first half. Makenzy Doniak, Alex Morgan and Kyra Carusa required goalkeeper Claudia Dickey to make second-half saves, none of them difficult.,
The Reign have not lost to the Wave in nine all-time matches, including four exhibitions. In the five matches that counted, the Wave scored just two goals.
“Honestly, they’re a great side and performed really well tonight,” Latsko said of the Wave. “Everry time we’ve play them, it’s just a really physical battle. Our team steps up to that kind of battle.”
The Wave went into Sunday night’s playoff match sure of one thing.
Fans at Snapdragon Stadium would make a lot of noise by NWSL standards. The announced attendance exceeded by three to eight times the average turnout for most NWSL teams.
“Obviously, San Diego is an amazing place to be and has the best fans,” Wave star Jaedyn Shaw said Friday.
The Wave led the 12-team league in attendance this year with an average announced turnout of 20,718. A year after two Wave crowds each exceeded 30,000 in announced attendance, setting a pair of league records, the Wave have again topped 30,000 twice.
Shaw would just as soon the Wave play all their game in San Diego. Snapdragon was home to all of Frisco, Texas native’s six goals this season plus the goal she scored there Oct. 27 for the U.S. national team.
“I feel like I get an extra something whenever I play in the Snap,” said the 18-year-old, whose name fans chanted during the U.S. victory over Colombia. “I’m just really excited to get out there and score more goals.”
Influenced by the big crowds, the NWSL decided to plant its championship match in Mission Valley.
A scoreless first half saw the Reign come out strong on offense and outplay the Wave on balance. The Reign put three shots on goal and produced an expected goal total of 0.26. Parried by the Reign’s unified and physical defense, the Wave mustered no shots on goal and a scant expected total of 0.08.
San Diego’s best scoring chance in the half, by far, came when Shaw’s dribbled drive produced a foul that awarded her a free kick 21 yards directly in front of the goal.
The ensuing attempt to trick the Reign fizzled badly. Instead of driving a shot over a wall of Reign defenders, Shaw made a short pass that was to set up another opportunity, only to see the Reign quickly seize control. Given that Dickey was appearing in just her eight professional match other than three exhibitions, it would’ve made sense to have Shaw test the the second-year ‘keeper.
Wave defender Naomi Girma, who had another strong game, correctly predicted the Wave would improve in the second half. “It’s just us moving them, finding pockets behind their press, pockets in front of their backline, and then once we get in there, turning and exploiting the space behind,” she said at halftime.
Despite the improvement, it’s the Reign — and Latsko — who advance.
“I cannot wait to spend another week in this kind of weather down here,” she said.
