Match Preview: San Diego Wave FC vs. North Carolina Courage
Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, California – Friday, September 30 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
San Diego midfielder Taylor Kornieck scored the game-tying goal in 87th minute of the Wave’s draw over the weekend. All three of Kornieck’s goals this season have come after the 80th minute, tied for the most such goals in 2022 with teammate Alex Morgan and her Friday opponent, Debinha. Morgan has scored four goals in the last five games for San Diego as well, helping to win three of those (D1 L1).
North Carolina midfielder Debinha scored all three goals in the win over Gotham for her first career NWSL hat trick and the 24th in league history. It was the first hat trick by a South American player in league history. That makes it five in the last two games for the Courage as they have racked up back-to-back 3-0 wins heading into the final game of the regular season.
Match facts: San Diego Wave FC and the North Carolina Courage meet on Friday night as the first game of the final regular season weekend, with major implications for both sides regardless of result. For San Diego, the club is still in the race for the Shield but sits three points behind Portland and would need not only a big win, but a Portland loss, Reign loss and Kansas City loss. Meanwhile, North Carolina ideally needs a win to capture the sixth and final playoff spot after swapping spots with Chicago after last week’s results. However, a draw could be good enough should Chicago and Angel City also draw. A draw and an Angel City win would also do the job, unless Angel City manages an enormous victory over the Red Stars that goes well into double digits.
San Diego rallied from a two-goal deficit to draw, 2-2, with Orlando on Sunday to clinch a spot in the NWSL playoffs, becoming the first expansion side in league history to do so. The Wave have earned two points in matches it has trailed by multiple goals in this season (D2 L2) with only the Reign having more (three points, W1 D0 L0). However, the side has lost three of its last seven (3W 1D) to drop pace after going first place a few weeks ago.
The Courage scored their second consecutive 3-0 victory with a blowout of Gotham FC in their home finale on Saturday. It is the first time since the team moved to North Carolina in 2017 that the Courage have had consecutive shutout wins by three or more goals. After a difficult start to the year, North Carolina put their foot to the pedal and have won five of their last six games to enter the playoff race. Now, with a win, they guarantee they get across the line and into the postseason.
In the lone meeting ever between the teams, the Wave secured a 1-0 win over the Courage in May. San Diego is looking to add North Carolina to Gotham FC as teams they have shutout in two different matches this season.
