San Diego Wave FC (12-8-3, 39 points) returns home to Snapdragon Stadium to face the North Carolina Courage (12-8-3, 39 points) on Saturday, Sept. 12. The match is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on ION.
San Diego and North Carolina have met seven times in NWSL regular season play, with the Courage holding a 3W-2L-2D advantage in the all-time series. The two teams enter Saturday level with 12-8-3 records and 39 points in the NWSL. The most recent meeting between the two teams ended in a 0-0 draw on Aug. 2, 2025, at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Last Time Out:
San Diego enters this weekend’s match following a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Seattle Reign FC on September 6 at Lumen Field. The Wave played a player down for 77 minutes after midfielder Mimi Van Zanten received a red card in the 13th minute. Despite playing with 10 players, San Diego held 58.9 percent possession against Seattle, the highest possession percentage recorded by a team that had a player sent off in the first half of an NWSL regular-season match. Seattle capitalized in the 28th minute with a goal from Maddie Mercado, and San Diego was unable to find an equalizer.
North Carolina Courage enters the match following a 6-0 win over Chicago Stars FC on Sept. 6. North Carolina’s victory marked its eighth consecutive multi-goal performance, the longest single-season streak in NWSL history. The Courage was led to the historic win with a hattrick from Ashley Sanchez, a first-time professional goal from Chioma Okafor, and Shinomi Koyama and Ryan Williams found their first goals of the 2026 season.
Player to Watch:
Trinity Byars has recorded four goals and two assists across the club’s last two home matches at Snapdragon Stadium. She has become just the second player in Wave FC history to reach double-digit goals in a single season and the fifth player in NWSL history to contribute to six goals across a two-match span. Byars leads San Diego with 10 goals this season.
Ashley Sanchez became the highest-scoring American in a single season in North Carolina’s last match when she recorded a hat trick against Chicago. Sanchez’s hat trick on Sunday was her fifth multi-goal performance of the season, equaling Kerr’s single-season NWSL record set in 2019.
