The San Diego Wave know Saturday\u2019s matchup against Bay FC\u00a0 is more than just another game \u2014 it\u2019s a chance to reverse their recent slide and reclaim momentum in the National Women\u2019s Soccer League playoff race.<\/p>\n
The Wave (7-3-5) haven\u2019t won since June 13, when they beat the Houston Dash 3-2. That was also the last time they scored more than one goal in a match.<\/p>\n
Since that victory, San Diego has played three matches, scored just one goal, and collected only three points. They\u2019ve dropped from second to fourth in the NWSL standings. Saturday\u2019s match in San Jose is a chance to get right: Bay FC (4-6-5) hasn\u2019t won since June 7. Incredibly, the club has tied its last four matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely try to find our feet back since the break,\u201d midfielder Kenza Dali said. \u201cWe create a lot of opportunities, but we\u2019re not happy, because obviously we\u2019re not taking the points we want.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wave have been fortunate that Orlando and Washington have also stumbled, keeping the gap small. They remain just one point behind both the Pride and Spirit for second place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re very much on the same page with what we need to improve,\u201d Wave coachJonas Eidevall said.<\/p>\n
Their latest setback came Saturday at home against Angel City. San Diego broke a 304-minute scoreless streak in the 85th minute, when Makenzy Robbe blasted home a screamer to put them up 1-0. But just seven minutes later, Angel City\u2019s Alanna Kennedy headed in the equalizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are dissatisfied with the game against Angel City, that it becomes too many times where we\u2019re not doing what we can do really well,\u201d Eidevall said. \u201cInstead of opting in to doing other stuff, and that\u2019s not who we are. We can win, draw or lose games; it\u2019s not about that. But we need to be able after the game to say \u2026 we play to our strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those strengths, Eidevall explained, include controlling possession and finding the open player \u2014 making sure passes aren\u2019t delivered too early or too late. In each of their last three matches, those timing issues have cost the Wave in the second half.<\/p>\n
The Wave\u2019s style depends on building from the back with patience, something Eidevall preaches as they move up the field. When that patience disappears, mistakes tend to follow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get vulnerable both in transitions, but also in the rhythm of the game,\u201d Eidevall said. \u201cWe don\u2019t create the situations we want to do against opponents. So then we need to practice that decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the Angel City match, Eidevall huddled the team together to stress that every issue is fixable \u2014 but players must first take accountability.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is often right,\u201d Dali said. \u201cWhen he says, \u2018it\u2019s a wake-up call\u2019 and stuff, I completely agree with that. I think you appreciate that as a manager. You don\u2019t want all the time him to say you\u2019re amazing when you\u2019re not. So, he\u2019s good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dali, signed from Aston Villa in late January, admits the transition to a new team and country was challenging at first. But her competitive spirit quickly took over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never claim myself as a leader, because this is not something that you ask to be a leader,\u201d Dali explained. \u201cThis is something that you show, it\u2019s just my personality. I\u2019m really competitive when things don\u2019t go the way or we\u2019re not good, I\u2019m not scared to say, new or not on a new team, that we need to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dali plays a pivotal role in the midfield, orchestrating the attack with vision and precision. According to FOTMOB, she has an 87.1% pass accuracy this season and has created chances at a 78% success rate.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also one of the most vocal players on the pitch, quick to point out adjustments after fouls or missed opportunities. And she\u2019s blunt about what needs to change for the Wave to return to form.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have our momentum, we need to capitalize on them, and we haven\u2019t yet in the games that we draw,\u201d Dali said. \u201cSo this is something that we work on, that we know and that we need to change if we want to achieve what we want to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
This season has been a roller coaster for San Diego. They bounced back from two straight losses to Orlando and Kansas City with a six-match unbeaten run.<\/p>\n
Now, they\u2019re in a three-game slump, but Dali knows from experience that such stretches can define a season \u2014 and a team\u2019s character.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally good teams, champions are the teams that even when they play bad,\u201d Dali said. \u201cThey keep they keep winning and I feel like this is something we need to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego Wave (7-3-5) vs. Bay FC (4-6-5)<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7 p.m. Saturday<\/p>\n Where:\u00a0<\/strong> PayPal Park, San Jose<\/p>\n TV:<\/strong> ION<\/p>\n Originally Published: August 15, 2025 at 9:51 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Wave know Saturday\u2019s matchup against Bay FC\u00a0 is more than just another game \u2014 it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,3549,7264,221,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-148355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-sandiego","14":"tag-soccer","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115033953009568102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}