Match Preview: Angel City vs San Diego Wave FC | 5.23.24

Thursday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific, Angel City is back at home against their SoCal rivals, San Diego Wave FC. The match will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network and locally on Bally Sports SoCal. Radio broadcasts will be available in English on iHeart and in Spanish on 1330 AM Tu Liga Radio.

Fans attending the match are encouraged to wear black as part of Angel City’s “Black Out the Wave” promotion. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Matchup

Last week, Angel City lost 2–4 on the road to the Washington Spirit. After a ninth-minute Trinity Rodman goal opened the scoring, Angel City notched two—a Washington own goal and a Sydney Leroux header—in the 20th and 23rd minutes. Rodman scored a second in the 30th minute, with two more for Washington, from Casey Krueger and Ouleymata Sarr, following soon after.

San Diego’s last game was a 1–2 loss on the road to the league’s other California team, Bay FC. After Kyra Carusa scored the opener for Wave in the 23rd minute, Bay forward Scarlett Camberos equalized in the second half. An own goal by San Diego defender Hanna Lundkvist late in regulation time sealed the win for the hosts.

The Wave are currently in eighth place with a 3–4–2 (W–L–D) record, while Angel City are just one point behind them in ninth with a 3–5–1 record.

All-time, the two Southern California teams are perfectly even: in the regular season, ACFC has recorded two wins, two losses, and zero draws, with the tally at 3–3–2 if the NWSL Challenge Cup—which in 2022 and 2023 was a two-stage tournament consisting of a regional round robin followed by a knockout round—is included.

The two clubs’ most recent regular-season meeting was last June, a 2–1 win in San Diego for Angel City.

Scouting Report

One storyline to watch this week will be the return of former Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill to BMO Stadium for the first time since her move, in free agency, to San Diego over the offseason. McCaskill was a major contributor for ACFC, leading the team in scoring for each of the club’s first two seasons. However, she has yet to make much of a mark in San Diego, with a single assist and no goals over nine appearances.

San Diego hasn’t had a single player emerge as their major scoring threat, instead seeing contributions from multiple players across their front line and in the midfield. Forwards Jaedyn Shaw, Makenzy Doniak, and Kyra Carusa all have two goals, with Shaw also having recorded an assist. The 19-year-old Shaw made history when she signed with the Wave two years ago, as the league amended its rules to allow her to do so as a minor (it has since implemented a specific mechanism for U-18 players).

While ACFC and the Wave have nearly even overall records this season, Angel City has outperformed their rivals in away matches: LA has won twice on the road, while San Diego have earned just a single point away from home, a scoreless draw in Louisville.

California Roots

Despite having gained a presence in the NWSL just two years ago with the entry of Angel City and San Diego Wave in 2022, California has always been an incubator for soccer talent, and that history is reflected in the roster construction of both Southern California teams. Together, the two teams boast 15 players with California roots, though Angel City has twice as many, with 10 to San Diego’s five.

Angelina Anderson, Madison Curry, Elizabeth Eddy, Katie Johnson, Lily Nabet, Christen Press, Megan Reid, Ali Riley, and Alyssa and Gisele Thompson are all California natives, while forward Sydney Leroux, a British Columbia native, played her college soccer at UCLA.

Alyssa Thompson, the LA native Angel City drafted first overall in 2023, contributed four goals in her rookie season. Although she has yet to get on the board in 2024, she’s already beaten her 2023 assist total, with three so far. Thompson has also contributed more shots than any other Angel City player, with 11.