Injury-plagued Wave face Seattle Reign away from home
Credit: Tammy Ryan/EVT Sports
Game: Seattle Reign vs San Diego Wave
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle
When: Friday, May 3, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. PST
TV: Amazon Prime Video
The San Diego Wave will play their fifth game of the 2024 NWSL regular season this Friday, May 3, against Seattle Reign at Lumen Field.
San Diego is dealing with some very serious injury issues heading into this match, with Alex Morgan, Naomi Girma, Abby Dahlkemper, Sofia Jakobsson, and Melanie Barcenas all out due to injury.
Dahlkemper, Morgan, Jakobsson, and Barcenas were all out in San Diego’s last match against Bay FC, but Girma was added to the injury list for this game. Girma and Dahlkemper’s absence is quite significant, with the Wave having to use a completely alternate centre-back partnership for this game. Casey Stoney has also had to experiment with the attack recently, but that actually worked out in the 2-1 win against Bay FC at Snapdragon Stadium.
Mya Jones, Makenzy Doniak, Savannah McCaskill and Kyra Carusa played together for the first time and they were able to provide some dynamic play for the Wave. Casey Stoney brought on Jaedyn Shaw in the second half of the game against Bay FC and she did make a difference, as she is expected to start this match in Seattle.
The Wave has two wins this season, including their first-ever win against this Reign franchise on March 29 at Snapdragon Stadium. The Reign also has some key absences, as Claudia Dickey, Jordyn Huitema, and Quinn are all unavailable for this match. Seattle has had a disastrous run to the season and is currently on a very surprising five-game losing streak. Reign did lose plenty of key players this offseason, like Rose Lavelle, Megan Rapinoe, and Emily Sonnett, but this type of downfall was not expected.
This has the potential to be a hard-fought match at Lumen Field, given that both teams are missing some key components and have been underwhelming so far. The Wave did well with an alternate squad against Bay FC, and it will be interesting to see if the offense can have a similar return in this away match.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.