Carusa’s goal lifts Wave at Orlando
Exactly the jolt the Wave needed Friday night in muggy Florida came when forward Kyra Carusa came off the bench to head home the decisive goal, leading to a 2-1 victory over the Orlando Pride.
The Wave are starting to look dangerous again, and their improved depth is why.
Do take notes, Padres — depth matters. Another Wave player who wasn’t in the lineup until recently, Abby Dahlkemper, provided a spark, too, scoring in the seventh minute.
A sturdy bench has led the Wave to a pair of victories that have vaulted them into second place with five matches left.
They’d gone winless in their prior nine matches, four of them exhibitions, but lacked Carusa in all of them and Dahlkemper in those five regular-season contests.
The victory whistle last Saturday came after lategame replacements Amirah Ali and Melanie Barcenas combined for the goal that stood as the winner.
Friday, Carusa entered in the 63rd minute and soon thereafter put away Makenzy Doniak’s corner kick from seven yards.
“It means a win on the road and that’s the most important thing,” said Carusa.
An alum of Del Norte High School, Carusa played three seasons in Denmark and started three matches with Ireland in the recent World Cup before joining the Wave on Aug. 18.
Dahlkemper has made a firm comeback from injuries that sidelined her most of last season and led to back surgery this year.
Her liner from 14 yards notched her first goal in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2016.
Looking their deepest in two years on the back line, the Wave started a worldclass tandem Friday in the 23-year-old Naomi Girma, a standout for the United States in four recent World
Cup matches, and Dahlkemper, who played all but 11 minutes of the Americans’ victorious World Cup run in 2019.
The Wave-Pride match’s best performer, however, was Brazilian star Marta.
Still deft at 37, she schooled a few Wave players, especially on a dazzling assist in the 44th minute. Wave rookie Melanie Barcenas, 15, posed for a photograph afterward with Marte.
You’ll never guess, though, who produced the match’s most memorable moment.
It was Wave coach Casey Stoney. With the Wave trying to run out the clock, Stoney booted the ball down the sideline and, smiling, tried to play it off to the referee.
Not amused, he pulled out the red card, ejecting Stoney.
Give the coach this: she showed she still has soccer feet.
Seated on a cooler as the ball rolled to her, she created the illusion the ball bounced off the cooler when in fact she’d kicked it.
Stoney won’t be coaching the Wave’s home match a week from Sunday against Houston. But her sleight of foot no doubt made for a livelier flight back to San Diego.