Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, California – Wednesday, April 19 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
San Diego forward Alex Morgan’s four career Challenge Cup goals came last season with the Wave. While none of those goals came against Portland, Morgan did have an assist against the Thorns in last year’s Challenge Cup meeting at Providence Park. Morgan already has three regular season goals in three games as well, with teammates Jaedyn Shaw (2) and Amirah Ali (1) the only other players to have scored this season.
Portland forward Sophia Smith has already lit up the scoresheet in 2023, scoring four goals in three regular season games to leap to an early lead in the regular season Golden Boot race. Smith also has two assists, one of which came in one of attacker Crystal Dunn’s two regular season goals making her the only other Thorns player to have scored more than one goal (Sugita, Vasconcelos, Weaver – 1) so far this season. Attacker Morgan Weaver has scored one goal in all three editions of the Challenge Cup as well. Weaver, whose first professional goal came in the 2020 Challenge Cup, is one of six players to have scored in each Challenge Cup.
Match facts: San Diego Wave FC kicks off its second-ever Challenge Cup against Portland Thorns FC on Wednesday night, with both sides looking to maintain good starts to their 2023 seasons. San Diego won its first two opening games before dropping their most recent match, 1-0, against OL Reign, while Portland also won its two opening games before drawing 1-1 with the Houston Dash in their third match.
The Wave started out by scoring three goals each game in back-to-back wins over Chicago and North Carolina. In that stretch were the goals from Morgan, Shaw, and Ali, though the side was unable to find a goal against OL Reign last weekend. In their debut in the Challenge Cup last season, San Diego scored nine goals in its six games. The team’s goals per game average in the competition of 1.5 is the second highest of any club in Challenge Cup history (North Carolina – 1.9).
On the other side, Portland enters still unbeaten through their three regular season games, scoring four goals per game in their first two games before their 1-1 draw against the Dash last weekend. The club’s five goal-scorers are the most of any team in the league. Now, Portland embarks on a quest to win its second Challenge Cup in three years after winning 2021. Last year, Portland allowed just five goals in the group stage but didn’t advance due to two losses and a draw (W3). The five goals allowed were tied for the fewest conceded in last year’s group stage with the Reign.
The Thorns and Wave met five times in 2022 with Portland scoring three victories (D1 L1), which included a Challenge Cup sweep and a 2-1 win in the NWSL Playoffs. The Thorns earned a regular season draw and a Challenge Cup win in two visits to San Diego last season with Sophia Smith scoring in both games.
