San Diego Wave ends road trip at Houston

Coming off an impressive 2-0 win over the Kansas City Current at Children’s Mercy Park on May 14, San Diego Wave looks to end its three-game road trip on a high note when it travels to Shell Energy Stadium to take on the Houston Dash on Saturday.

The Wave currently sits in fifth place of the NWSL standings only three points behind the league-leading Washington Spirit and three points ahead of Houston, which currently sits in seventh place one point behind North Carolina for the sixth and final playoff spot.

San Diego Wave ended a two-game losing streak in the victory over Kansas City thanks to great goalkeeping from Kailen Sheridan and defensive plays from the backline, which included Sierra Enge who got her first regular season start for the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney.

“It was just fun to be out there,” said Enge. “Fun to get to play.”

The former Stanford University standout got her first professional start on April 19 in the NWSL Challenge Cup 1-0 win over the Portland Thorns.

As for the Houston Dash, they had a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Thorns on May 12 having won two of its last three games. San Diego and Houston played twice during the 2022 regular season with the Wave coming out on top on both occasions 1-0 on May 1, and 3-1 on Aug. 20 in the team’s final match at Torero Stadium.

The Dash are led in scoring by forward and Mexican women’s soccer team player Maria Sanchez who has two goals in seven matches, which includes six starts.

“Yeah, it’s very difficult,” said Stoney. “So we will prioritize recovery, and we will find ways to get detail into them that are not necessarily on the grass, but we will still also train during the week before we travel.”

San Diego Wave has been without the services of star midfielder Taylor Kornieck who is still dealing with an abdominal injury, but hope to have her available for the match on Saturday.

Photo courtesy: San Diego Wave FC