The San Diego Wave’s visit to America First Field in Sandy, Utah saw them snap their NWSL 12-match winless streak as they claimed their first away victory of the league season with a 2-1 win against the Utah Royals.
The last league victory for the Wave came in a 2-0 home match against the Utah Royals on May 8.
Coming into the match, the Wave (3-9-7) were twelfth in the NWSL standings with 16 points as the Royals (4-12-3) were thirteenth with 15 points.
Both clubs outside of the playoff contention places, the match held high implications on which squad would make the final push for the NWSL playoffs with seven matches remaining.
The Wave attack broke through early, finding the back of the net within 30 seconds of the kickoff whistle. Forward Delphine Cascarino made a nice run down the right flank putting a cross into the box as Forward Amirah Ali met the pass with a well enough touch to put it past the Royals goalkeeper Mandy Haught to give the Wave a very early 1-0 lead.
THE FASTEST GOAL IN CLUB HISTORY ✨ pic.twitter.com/AO8ogTLZUJ
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) September 15, 2024
A history-breaking goal for Amirah Ali as she records the earliest goal in club history and the fourth fastest goal in NWSL history.
As for personal milestones, Ali netted her first goal of the 2024 NWSL season with Delphine Cascarino providing her first assist in the NWSL.
It didn’t take long for the Wave to extend their lead as another goal came from a great passage of play with a low cross put in front of the goal by Forward Makenzy Doniak as Cascarino tapped it into the net making it a 2-0 Wave advantage at the 6-minute mark.
c’est super! @delphsix's first NWSL goal 🌊 pic.twitter.com/G9gQiYb0Yy
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) September 15, 2024
Cascarino added to her eventful night by recording her first NWSL goal moments after claiming her first assist in league play.
The Royals fought back into the match with a 59-minute goal from an outside-the-box left-footed strike by Royals Forward Cloé Lacasse, cutting their deficit to one goal with 30 minutes plus added time remaining as the scoreline read 1-2.
Adding on to the already memorable match, Cloé Lacasse’s goal was her first in the NWSL.
With the remainder of the match seeing a dramatic finish with the Royals creating multiple chances in search of the equalizing goal and the Wave trying to preserve their goal advantage lead, the final whistle blew as the Wave took the 2-1 away victory.
Wave FC coach Landon Donovan discussed snapping the club’s 12-match winless streak in league play.
“This is a process,” Donovan said. “It's going to be a long process but I always say wins expedite the process. Wins create belief and buy-in. I've said all along they've been phenomenal in every way and they have given so much to this.”
After recording his first NWSL win as a Head Coach, Landon Donovan made it clear what this win meant to him.
“There is zero percent of me that is happy for me or what it means for me,” Donovan said. “I am happy for them. They deserve it, the staff deserves it. They've all been through a lot and I listened to them this week and really.”
The Wave returned to Snapdragon Stadium for their next match as they face the Portland Thorns in the Concacaf W Champions Cup for their second group stage fixture on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. They look to build on their first Champions Cup match, which saw them take an away 2-0 victory against Santa Fe.
As for the NWSL, the Wave goes back on the road as they visit the Chicago Red Stars at SeatGeek Stadium on Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m. With only six league matches remaining in the Wave’s season, each match result will be crucial for a playoff position.