Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, California – Friday, May 26 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
San Diego forward Alex Morgan recorded a goal and an assist in San Diego’s win over Houston on Saturday, her 12th regular season game with at least one of each, surpassing Lynn Williams for second-most in league history behind only Sam Kerr (16). Morgan leads her side in goals with five, with forward Jaedyn Shaw the only multi-goal scorer on the year (3) despite six other players having found the back of the net for the Wave this year.
17-year-old Olivia Moultrie has recorded a goal contribution in four straight games (2 goals, 2 assists), the second player to do so this season alongside teammate Sophia Smith. Moultrie now has 12 career regular season goal contributions at a younger age than any other player has recorded one. Smith currently sits second in scoring for her side with four goals, with teammate Crystal Dunn sitting atop the Thorns’ goal-scoring charts with five goals.
Match facts: A blockbuster Friday night matchup pits San Diego Wave FC against the Portland Thorns FC, with the hosts San Diego winning two of their last three against the visitors. It’s a matchup with plenty of implications for a packed top of the league standings as well, with San Diego currently third place with 15 points from eight games (W5 L3) while Portland sits in second place, tied with San Diego on 15 points (W4 D3 L1) but edging them out on goal differential (+12 to San Diego’s +5).
San Diego recorded consecutive shutout wins at Kansas City and Houston in its last two NWSL matches. This is the sixth time the Wave have won consecutive matches in all NWSL competitions, though they only managed to make it three in a row once, doing so in their first three regular season games last year.
The Thorns scored three times in the first 16 minutes in their win over Chicago last weekend, the third-fastest a team has reached three goals from kickoff in NWSL history behind two other Thorns performances. Portland’s 22 goals through eight games are five more than any team has had at this stage of a season before.
As mentioned, the Wave have won two of their last three meetings with Portland in all NWSL competitions, including a victory in the Challenge Cup in April. Portland has won only one of its first three visits to San Diego, recording a 1-0 victory in last season’s Challenge Cup in March 2022.
