Seattle Reign vs. San Diego Wave Gamethread

The Seattle Reign are visiting the San Diego Wave for the second game of their three-game road trip. The Reign had the Wave's number last year, winning all five matches against the Shield-winning squad: twice in the regular season, twice in the Challenge Cup, and at Snapdragon Stadium for the Semifinals of the NWSL Playoffs. The Reign have never lost to the Wave in a competitive game, going 7-0-2 in the match-up's short history (it's like I've never heard of a commentator's curse).

The match kicks off Friday, March 29th at 7:00 PM PT. You can find the match on Amazon's Prime Video for U.S. viewers and NWSL+ for international fans.

What to Watch

These points are cribbed from Susie's Match Preview article linked above, you should honestly skip my summary and just read her analysis 😸

• The Wave has an arsenal of dangerous weapons, from the ever-potent Alex Morgan to Swedish star Sofia Jakobsson and upcoming American Jaedyn Shaw. Though the Reign have historically been defensively stout against the Wave–only allowing 4 goals in nine(!) matches–the biggest new weapon for San Diego is Savannah McCaskill. She gives the Wave a new dimension of methodical and patient attacking with possession, as opposed to their previously preferred more direct style. With Jess Fishlock set to miss the match due to an excused absence, it will likely be up to Olivia van der Jagt to step into the midfield to help defuse the Wave's weapons. This game would be Olo's tenth appearance against the Wave, making her the only player to feature in every competitive Reign-Wave matchup.
• In her pregame press conference, Reign defender Phoebe McClernon noted that the Wave like to play with high energy and aggression to start matches, hoping to set the pace and gain an early advantage. Relieving that early pressure and matching the energy with their own will be a priority for the Reign.
• Set piece defending will be key. The Wave have already scored two goals off of corner kicks, with Morgan finding a relatively free header against Gotham to win the Challenge Cup and Jakobsson putting back a rebound off of an Adrianna Franch save in the team's season opener last week. Clean clearances and tight marking on dangerous players will be necessary to keep the Reign's undefeated streak against San Diego alive.

Officials

REF: Alexandra Billeter
AR1: Salma Perez
AR2: Jennifer Garner
4TH: Servando Berna
VAR: Samantha Martinez
AVAR: Ekaterina Koroleva

Lineups

Highlights

Emily van Egmond scores the game winner for the Wave deep into stoppage time.

Final: San Diego Wave 1, Seattle Reign 0.

Availability/Injury Report

Seattle Reign
OUT: Jess Fishlock (excused absence), Sam Meza (illness), Quinn (concussion)

QUESTIONABLE: Veronica Latsko (leg)

San Diego Wave

OUT: None.

How to Watch

Time/Date: Friday, March 29, 7 PM PT

Location: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California

TV: None

Streaming: Amazon Prime Video (U.S.), NWSL+ (International)

Join the Discussion

This is your Seattle Reign vs. San Diego Wave gamethread. Join the discussion in the comments, on Discord if you're a paid subscriber, and follow @RoValks on Twitter for live updates.