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The San Diego Wave entered the mid-season break seemingly in command of the National Women’s Soccer League standings in first place. A month into the second half of the season, the Wave has slipped into fifth place.
The team is 1-3-2 in its last six matches to fall to 10-7-3 on the season with 33 points.
Much of that spiral was evident to the 13,463 fans in attendance at Snapdragon Stadium in last Friday’s 1-1 draw against the first-year Denver Summit.
The Wave opened scoring in the 35th minute as Melanie Barcenas received the ball from teammate Gia Corley, made a cut to beat multiple defenders and drove a low shot into the bottom corner from outside the box.
The hosts looked in control against the expansion club.
But that began to unravel in the 58th minute when Denver’s Yazmeen Ryan headed the ball past San Diego goalkeeper Sandra Paños following a defensive takeaway.
The equalizer appeared stir the Wave offense but finishing was poor.
Barcenas, 18, nearly restored the lead two minutes later when her booming shot from distance struck the crossbar.
Adriana Leon thrilled the home crowd with an uncontested breakaway from midfield. She found the back of the net but the goal was ruled offside with a late wave of the flag.
There were earlier missed chances.
Ludmila nearly opened the scoring in the 27th minute after rounding Denver goalkeeper Abby Smith but sent a shot just wide.
Lia Godfrey nearly doubled the lead before halftime, but her curling shot was denied by Smith.
The Wave has scored one goal in each of its last three matches — one win, one loss and one tie.
But it hasn’t been for a lack of effort. “We were energetic from the start,” Wave head coach Jonas Eidevall said. “There is no doubt we should have won. We were the better team. We need to put away our chances, the good news is that we’re creating chances.”
Eidevall said it would be a different story if the team wasn’t creating scoring chances.
“We just have to be a little better in our next game,” he said.
Despite the downward slide, the Wave remains in seemingly solid playoff contention. San Diego sits one point behind the fourth place Portland Thorns (10-6-4, 34 points) and three points behind the third place Utah Royals (11-6-3, 36 points).
However, the Wave has fallen 10 points off the lead by Gotham FC (13-3-4, 43 points). The Washington Spirit resides in second place (11-5-4, 37 points).
The Wave enters Friday’s home match against Utah (7 p.m. start) with a three-point lead over both the North Carolina Courage (9-7-3, 30 points) and KC Current (9-8-3, 30 points). The Seattle Reign is holding onto the eighth and last playoff berth with an 8-7-3 record and 27 points.
Angel City FC (7-7-4) remains outside in ninth place with 25 points. Denver (6-7-6, 24 points) is in 10th place.
Cornerkicks
· Barcenas scored her fourth goal of the season, the most by any teenager in the NWSL this season.
· Corley recorded her fourth assist of the season, the most by any Wave FC player in 2026 and a career high for the midfielder.
