Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, California – Saturday, March 25 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
The San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan set the pace last season by winning the Golden Boot and scoring 15 goals in 17 games. This season, she will undoubtedly be expected to keep scoring goals. Morgan’s rate of 0.94 goals per 90 minutes is the highest, surpassing Christen Press’s 0.97 goals per game in 11 Red Stars games in 2015. However, no player in history has ever scored more than 15 goals in a single game. After winning NWSL Protector of the Year and NWSL The New Hotness awards following a heavenly mission last year, back-up Naomi Girma will be another player to watch throughout 2023.
Mallory Swanson, a forward for the Chicago Red Stars, is one of the few forwards in the league who can consistently score a lot of goals. Last year, Swanson was tied for first place in assists with 11 goals and six enrollees. She additionally tied Morgan and Sophia Smith of Portland for most absolute objective commitments with 17 objectives contributed. Penelope Hocking, a draftee who was selected first and No. After a few departures, 1, will assist Swanson in attack this year. seventh in the NWSL Draft in 2023. Julia Bianchi, a former Palmeiras midfielder in Brazil’s first class, and Cari Roccaro’s appearance from Holy messenger City FC in the midfield will help provide stability behind that forward line.
Match Details: At least 23,500 fans are anticipating the start of the Wave’s regular season when they take on the Chicago Red Stars at Snapdragon Stadium in a rematch of the NWSL Playoffs’ First Round matchup from last year. Morgan’s objective in the 110th moment isolated the groups for good after the two groups went to additional time tied at 1-1.
The hosts’ inaugural campaign, in which they finished tied for third in points (W10 D6 L6), will be an exciting one if everything goes according to plan. The only NWSL team to finish its inaugural season with a higher point total—49 (W16 D1 L7, excluding the NWSL’s inaugural season in 2013)—was the North Carolina Courage. There is little reason to believe San Diego cannot achieve even greater heights as they begin a promising year. They have numerous returning players in addition to a fair number of outstanding newcomers.
Swanson’s return, along with other key players at the top of the field and in the club’s midfield, will help the Chicago Red Stars take on the competition head-on, despite having their fair share of faces to replace. If Chicago’s head coach Chris Petrucelli, who is in his second season with the team, is able to get his team to start working together, it might surprise some people as they try to get back to the postseason. The Red Stars’ defense, which includes Tatumn Milazzo and Arin Wright, has the potential to move in the right direction, and Alyssa Naeher’s return as a goalkeeper is a boost in and of itself.
