San Diego Wave FC dream start to the season keeps getting better and better.
On Sunday afternoon at a sold out Torero Stadium, Wave made their home return with a 2-1 victory over Washington Spirit, with both San Diego goals coming from Makenzie Doniak and Belle Briede.
With this win, Wave FC reclaims the top spot in the NWSL standings with 21 overall points, placing itself two paints ahead of second place Chicago Red Stars.
The team had to adjust heading into week, after having multiple key players head out of town for international duty, which became a huge test for the team's depth this weekend against Washington Spirit.
Wave midfielder Belle Briede, who scored the second goal for San Diego, says that winning under such circumstances speaks volumes to the tough mentality the team has regardless of who is on the field for them.
This game is a good testament to us grinding it out till the end. I think it wasn’t pretty at times, but sometimes that’s the game. I’m really proud of this team for getting a Win after this little break and just getting momentum into the next week is important for us. I’m proud of this team," Briede said.
Makenzie Doniak opened up the scoreboard with a quality finish in front of the net, after Christen Westphal delivered a great pass inside the penalty box after an excellent build-up play.
Doniak spoke on the play leading up to the goal, saying she fully trusted that Westphal would find a way to get the ball to the right spot.
“I think as a center forward, you have to trust your wide players. Christen Westphal is a great example of that. I just trusted that she was going to get that ball. I think Belle [Briede] was in front of me and it kinda went past her and I just followed through and put the ball in the back of the net.”
And as for Wave head coach Casey Stoney, well, she could not be any happier with how the team stepped up in a time where key players are participating in international duty. Stoney says that she hopes that in times like these, other players take advantage of the opportunity to step up and display their individual qualities with every minute of playing time they get.
“It’s a massive opportunity. I don’t make excuses," said Stoney. "People say ‘we’re an expansion team’ that’s an excuse or ‘we’re missing five players’ that’s an excuse. It’s an opportunity. Opportunity for other people to get really good playing time. Opportunity for others to step up and an opportunity for us to get [standings] points on the board and they did that. I’ve got an incredible roster, I trust my players. We give probably more minutes to rookies than most other teams because if you don’t put them in, you don’t know."
San Diego will be waving in the northern direction next weekend, when they head up to L.A.'s Banc of California Stadium to play Angel City next Saturday, July 9th.
