Wave off to strong 3-0 start in first year
Three games, three victories. Can the Wave keep this up? “It’s a marathon,” assistant coach Rich Gunney said Sunday after the first-year team edged the Chicago Red Stars, 2-1, before 5,000 fans at the University of San Diego.
There will be tougher times, said Gunney, a National Women’s Soccer League veteran.
“But at the same time,” the coach added, “we know we can compete.”
Who owns the best record in the 12-team NWSL?
The San Diego newbies, who didn’t launch until 11 months ago. Riding a strong second half Sunday, the Wave outplayed a Chicago (1-1) franchise that reached the NWSL Finals in November.
Coach Casey Stoney’s team is halfway to the victory total of the league’s prior expansion team, the 2016 Orlando Pride, who went 6-13-1 and finished next to last.
The next four games are on the road, starting Wednesday at Louisville.
The Wave’s ability to craft game plans and adjust within matches will be tested.
So far, it’s a test they’ve passed. Following a scoreless first half that Gunney termed patchy, the Wave figured out something. From there, they controlled play, outshot the visitors 12-4 and scored twice before allowing a goal in the 90th minute.
Alex Morgan broke a 0-0 tie in the 56th minute.
Kaleigh Riehl made it 2-0 in the 89th minute.
Sofia Jakobsson created a foul that enabled Morgan’s third penalty kick and fifth goal of the season.
Rookie Kelsey Turnbow pinpointed a 25-yard pass that Riehl gathered and knocked home. Chicago had left Riehl uncovered in front of the goal — perhaps, she said, because the Wave sprang a new play.
“We made a few small adjustments and were really pleased with the attitude and mindset of the players coming out in the second half,” said Gunney, who was a Portland assistant the past five years. “Great response.”
The Wave looked the fitter
team on a warm afternoon.
Midfielder Taylor Kornieck, relentless, alert and physical, was perhaps the game’s best two-way performer before exiting with Morgan in the 82nd minute of play.
A key ingredient to the
Wave’s success is that forwards Morgan, Jakobbson and Jodie Taylor are playing a full-field, energetic game. They’re pressing opponents as defenders yet also sprinting upfield to ignite offense.
“It makes our jobs so much easier,” said defender Riehl, a Penn State alum.
Morgan, Jakobbson and Taylor are 32, 32 and 35 years old, respectively.
Sustaining their strenuous pace will be a big challenge.
“It’s a lot of running, both when we don’t have the ball and when we have the ball,” said Jakobsson, who replaced injured rookie Amirah Ali in the 34th minute and set up Morgan’s goal with a steal shy of midfield and a 50-yard sprint.
“But, we have good players who are super fit. So, it
works for us.”
Free of charge, here’s a historical tidbit the Wave can use to stay hungry:
The expansionist Padres started out 3-0.
Then went 49-110. That was in 1969, decades before Wave coaches and players were born.
“You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to compete, you’ve got to adapt to the challenge each time,” Gunney said. “It’s always different.”
A 3-0 record won’t help the Wave when the whistle blows in Louisville, but in the bid for one of six playoff berths, the nine points they’ve amassed is the best possible outcome going into the four-game trip.