July 9th @ Banc of California Stadium
Records:
Angel City FC 4-4-2 (6th)
San Diego Wave FC 6-2-3 (1st)
Last match:
Angel City FC Tied vs. Portland Thorns FC 1-1
San Diego Wave FC Won vs. Washington Spirit 2-1
SoCal Sun Duel
For the first time in NWSL history, two expansion clubs from southern California will meet in the regular season.
Regional Rivalry
Geographically, these two cities are separated by 120 miles (or about a 2-hour car ride on “the five,” i.e. Interstate 5). This relatively short distance is probably the shortest in the league by travel time, but that doesn’t lessen the intensity of this west coast matchup (or, Chanclásico, as one SB Nation writer has dubbed it). In fact, both expansion teams are currently in playoff contention, which is a wild stat considering the history of expansion teams across all sports.
While there isn’t much regular season history between these two teams (yet), they have met before. The SoCal clubs played to a tie back in March during the 2022 Challenge Cup (1-1) and again on April 2nd (4-2 Wave win). USWNT forward Alex Morgan scored twice in the last matchup, however she will be missing this third match due to national team duties (see more below).
As it stands, San Diego currently leads the league in points after ten games but the winner walks away with SoCal pride.
National Team Absences
For the second weekend in a row, San Diego Wave will be without league-leading scorer Alex Morgan (CONCACAF W Championship) and fellow attacker Sofia Jakobsson (currently on Swedish international duty at the UEFA Women’s EURO tournament). Also absent from the regular starting lineup are midfielder Taylor Kornieck (US), defender Naomi Girma (US), and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan (Canada). All three U.S. players get major minutes as starters with San Diego Wave FC, so it will be interesting to see if other position players can get a result and keep the team in first place (e.g. Makenzy Doniak, Isabella Briede, Jodie Taylor, Kelsey Turnbow, Amirah Ali, etc.).
On L.A.’s side of the ball, they’re only missing one player due to international duty in Canada’s Vanessa Gilles. However, their roster has fallen victim to that other scourge of team sports: injuries. US National Teamer and crowd favorite Christen Press recently succumbed to a season-ending ACL tear, while defender Sarah Gorden similarly suffered a knee injury before the season started.
Both rosters are experiencing a fair amount of depletion, especially when compared with OL Reign (8 players) and Washington Spirit (7 players), so the game can be considered even in that regard.
Expansion Success
Many measures indicate expansion success for both first-year clubs. Considering season ticket sales, attendance, and actual win-loss records, both clubs appear to be starting on the right foot. San Diego Wave FC sits atop the table with 21 points after eleven games played. There’s still plenty of season left, but it would be remarkable if they were to finish the season still on top. Angel City FC is sitting in sixth place with 14 points after ten games played, which is currently good enough for a playoff spot.
These clubs are still in their infancy, but judging from the league table these teams mean business as far as results are concerned.
Angel City FC will be going for the home win in front of their incredible crowd while San Diego Wave FC looks to continue their winning ways (five-game win streak) and retain the top spot.