A barrage of San Diego Wave shots and crosses could not find the back of the net against a determined Washington Spirit side on Sunday night, leaving the game a scoreless tie in the final match before the international break.
“We haven't seen the best of what we’re capable of,” Kailen Sheridan said. “I’ve seen glimpses of more.”
The Wave fended off the Spirit to maintain their podium placement in the NWSL standings heading into the international break; Washington remains just a point behind San Diego in fourth place.
The Wave held a 1-3-2 record against the visitors going into Sunday’s match. Despite historical away success, including a 5-1 record this season, the Spirit had yet to claim a victory at Snapdragon; the past three contests ended in a deadlock (1-1, 1-1, 2-2).
San Diego faced an ambiguous task Sunday night against Adrián González, who took over as Washington's manager earlier in the week. The former assistant manager has helped put together a strong 2025 campaign despite injury setbacks through formation changes, a fluid midfield, and stalwart defending; the team has used all but seven of its players throughout a 7-1-4 campaign entering Sunday’s match.
Jonas Eidevall has led San Diego to an impressive 7-2-3 start in his first season with the Wave. The team came into the match as league leaders in assists (20) and second-most in goals (25). The possession-heavy tactics of Eidevall also propelled the squad to the top of the possession standings (58.6%).
The Wave enacted such meticulous play on Sunday, holding 60% of the first-half possession. Early high pressure from the visitors forced offensive creativity from the hosts, resulting in a heavy presence in the final third, two corners, and a pristine shot from María Sánchez within the first 10 minutes.
A mixed bag of tactics awaited the Wave off the ball, as the Spirit combined kickball sequences — the team cleared the ball 26 times in the first half — with individual play down the middle of the field and even glimpses of possession-play. Down top goalscorer Ashley Hatch due to a back injury, much of the offensive duties fell on Gift Monday, who put together a pair of chances. Her best chance came in the 21st minute, when she muscled her way down the length of the field before forcing a rightward lunging save from Sheridan.
"Washington is one of the best counterattacking teams, so we needed to be brave and have good decision-making," Eidevall said. "When we lost the ball, we needed to be able to stay connected, counter-press and win the ball back, and we were successful with doing that."
San Diego kept the ball in Washington’s half throughout the first leg, taking 2/10 shots on goal and putting in another 14 crosses. Players from all levels got involved during the 45 minutes, including defender Trinity Armstrong, who posited a threatening header that ultimately flew well over the crossbar. In the 41st minute, Washington resorted to a high kick on Delphine Cascarino, leading to a controversial penalty no-call that kept the game scoreless going into halftime.
The second half brought a flurry of opportunistic long crosses from the hosts, who threatened the goal on three occasions, although none notched the stat sheet. The constant pressure yielded nine more corners and accompanying opportunities for San Diego.
The Wave would engineer a scrumptious opportunity in the 76th minute when Mel Barcenas received a cross at the back post. The 17-year-old proceeded with a first-touch pass across the face of the goal that just missed Adriana Leon. Savannah McCaskill followed up the ensuing clearance with a laser into the bottom right corner to earn another corner.
Washington grew more aggressive defensively as the half progressed, resulting in a pair of yellow cards and as many free kicks just outside the box. Kenza Dali nearly broke through on such a chance, hitting the same bottom right corner spot and forcing another superlative save from Aubrey Kingsbury.
On the ball, Washington continued to apply sporadic pressure, relying on individual prowess for a pair of counterattacks soon extinguished by a disciplined Wave defense. A stalwart Armstrong shoulder shut down a final Spirit attempt in the 85th minute.
The right side became the danger zone for the Wave, who put in crosses and shots alike throughout the final ten minutes. In the 94th, Dali placed a near-post cross on a platter for Cascarino, who could not make the right contact, leaving the game 0-0 by the final whistle.
"We were missing the final touch, the final decision," Eidevall said. "On another day, I'm sure we would have scored one or two goals."