San Diego Wave FC faces off against the Portland Thorns at Providence Park on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. PT. The match marks the top-two seeds in the NWSL, as San Diego is currently in second with 30 points, two points behind league-leading Portland.
It will be the fourth regular season encounter between the two clubs. The Wave holds an all-time regular season record of 1-0-2, registering five goals to Portland’s three. Led by head coach Mike Norris, the Thorns (9-5-5, 32 points) are leading the league with 40 goals this season, led by current Golden Boot leader Sophia Smith (11 goals). Portland is coming off a 2-0 win over rivals OL Reign, in which midfielders Hina Sugita and Morgan Weaver scored for the home side.
San Diego (9-7-3, 30 points) heads on the road following a 2-1 defeat by Kansas City Current at Snapdragon Stadium. Following a goal in the third minute and 22nd minute for the Current, San Diego was able to apply pressure and grab a goal from rookie Sierra Enge. Despite outshooting Kansas City 15-5, the Wave was unable to find the breakthrough goal and would drop points for the first time in four matches.
In the last regular season meeting between the Wave and the Thorns, the match ended in a late-scoring 1-1 draw at Snapdragon Stadium. The match was scoreless in the 86th minute until forward Jaedyn Shaw played a ball over the defense to forward Sofia Jakobsson whose first shot was blocked but she found the back of the net after her second shot. However, just four minutes later, Portland’s Reyna Reyes equalized the game ahead of the final whistle for the clubs to split the points.
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