PREVIEWING:

SAN DIEGO WAVE FC (1-0-0) vs. NJ/NY GOTHAM FC (1-0-0)

2022 NWSL Regular Season

San Diego Wave Inaugural Home Opener

Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. PT

Torero Stadium

The San Diego Wave Fútbol Club held media availability on Thursday at the San Diego Polo Fields ahead of their inaugural regular season home opener this Saturday at Torero Stadium. Video of the zoom interview sessions, as well as training session B-Roll can be found through the hyperlinks below.

ZOOM + B-ROLL LINK HERE

MEDIA CREDENTIAL REQUESTS FOR SATURDAY’S MATCH:

For media that haven’t applied for credentials, but are interested in covering Saturday’s 7:00 p.m. PT home match against NJ/NY Gotham FC at Torero Stadium, please submit your official request HERE.

THURSDAY, MAY 5th WAVE FC QUOTE HIGHLIGHTS:

CASEY STONEY, SAN DIEGO WAVE FC HEAD COACH

On the home crowd atmosphere that’s already been created at Torero Stadium:

“It’s unbelievable the fact we’ve sold out all home games. The atmosphere is incredible. Put it this way, in England if I gave a message onto the pitch, it was heard. You can’t hear yourself think [at Torero Stadium], let alone players hear you give instructions. It’s brilliant, [the fans] get behind the team, they support the team throughout the 90 minutes and they create a really good atmosphere. It’s different.”

On what to expect from facing NJ/NY Gotham FC:

“They’ve got danger players. [Paige] Monaghan, [Margaret] Purce. They’ve got pace in their front line that can hurt us if we’re not in the right start positions. We need to defend higher up better and stay more compact in moments so we’re harder to break down. We kept a clean sheet for the first time last weekend, so that’s a real positive for us and we need to build on that now. They’re a good team. [Scott Parkinson] is a good coach and he’ll have them playing through the thirds. We’ll need to make sure we’re compact and deny them spaces. Also, we know where the spaces are to exploit against them. We know where we can hurt them.”

On the optimism for the long-term growth of women’s soccer in San Diego and the NWSL:

“We’ve sold out every home game, so that’s something to be really optimistic about in terms of soccer here in San Diego. We obviously train here, there’s a rich culture of soccer, and I’ve never seen anything like it in England in terms of [young] girls playing the game. The optimism is very high. When you look at the crowds across the league last weekend, Angel City obviously got what they did as well [sold-out crowd of 22,500], so I think we all have to be optimistic and not just about soccer in San Diego and America, but across the world. You look at the crowds that teams are getting in The Champions League and across women’s soccer. There’s a real thirst for the women’s game. We’ve got a huge tournament in England this year in terms of the Euros, there’s obviously going to be a World Cup coming up, so there’s so much optimism in the game and it’s going from strength to strength.”

KESLEY TURNBOW, WAVE FC MIDFIELDER

On the support they’ve already seen from San Diegans:

“It means so much to us. San Diego is a soccer city and I feel it was so overdue to get a women’s team [back] in the city, so to see [the fans] love and support gives us so much motivation and purpose. We couldn’t be more grateful to represent this city and we’re proud to continue to do that. We want to make them proud.”

On how she, along with her fellow rookies, have transitioned from college to pro:

“As a rookie group, we’re super blessed to be playing for the San Diego Wave. We feel so much support and we’re getting a lot of guidance. I feel, personally, that I’ve grown more as a player than I have in a really long time. It’s always special to be in a new place. We have really great leaders to look up to. So many great players who have taken our hand and really helped us along the way navigate the transition from college to pro. And then our staff, from our coaches to the extended staff, they’re absolutely amazing and they’ve helped us too. It’s truly a special place to be in and I think that it’s made the transition a lot easier.”

KRISTEN MCNABB, WAVE FC MIDFIELDER

On her experience with Wave after four years with OL Reign:

“Seattle did have a really good team culture. I loved the team, and I love and appreciate my years there. What’s so different is everyone’s new here, which has brought this newfound excitement. We’re all coming together towards a common goal, so it’s been really cool to build from day one. We have an incredible group, we’re all tight knit and we have common goals. It’s been great so far.”

On what’s unique about head coach Casey Stoney’s style:

“She’s super detail oriented, which is awesome. We do film and she’s super clear and concise in what she wants. Personally, being a defender all of my career, having a defensive leader who really harps on those small defensive details that other coaches might not pay attention to has been really awesome. The small defensive details she points out have been really unique.”

WAVE FC MEDIA CONTACT: Emma Vanderhyden – E: [email protected] P: (609) 304-7352