The Lia Godfrey Effect: SD Wave FC’s rookie is an answered prayer for the offense
San Diego Wave midfielder Lia Godfrey signs a surfboard after her match at Snapdragon Stadium on March 28, 2026. Photo by Nate Tubbs/EVT
12 players on San Diego’s roster are younger than 24-year-old rookie Lia Godfrey, but her road to the show seems to be perfectly timed.
SAN DIEGO — San Diego Wave FC’s frontline started to flicker out toward the end of its 2025 season. Its attack looked out of step, which was not an issue in earlier matches. Ultimately falling to Portland in the playoffs, the Wave were held scoreless. Change was clearly coming.
To make matters worse, the Wave lost its season leader in point contributions, Delphine Cascarino, who signed with London City. Moving into its fifth season, the Wave knew that offensive production needed to be addressed. Signing key player Kenza Dali to an extension was a must. With Dudinha showing huge upside since her 2025 midseason signing, San Diego committed itself to a new, simple formula: Brazilians = benefits.
So they signed two more, Ludmila and Gabi Portilho. These signings were steps, but a back injury sustained by key player Adriana Leon was a step backward. While fans weren’t thrilled with Leon’s production in 2025, the injury still represents a big hit to the offense.
Enter the Cavalier
Lia Godfrey started her career at the University of Virginia in 2020. She made the most of her COVID-shortened freshman season, finishing with four goals and nine assists, earning ACC Freshman of the Year honors in the process. Retaining that year of eligibility, Godfrey continued to develop, putting together First-Team All-ACC caliber seasons in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, she had to deal with the adversity of a knee injury, ending her season before it began. Godfrey’s return in 2024 was slower, as the stat sheet would put it, but she saw UVA into the NCAA tournament, which they had missed during her injured year.
2025 marked Godfrey’s sixth year of college soccer, and she positioned herself to make it the biggest of them all. Starting all 22 games, she scored 11 goals, five of which were game winners, and four assists, two for game winners. She led Virginia to a one-seed placement in the NCAA tournament and finished with ACC Midfielder of the Year and All-ACC honors.
San Diego Wave FC took notice, signing her to a two-year deal with options to extend another two on December 30, 2025.
Starting her pro chapter strong
In the 64th minute of the Wave’s season opener, Godfrey played her first minutes on professional grass. While the Wave would ultimately fall 1-0 to the Houston Dash, the team knew that possession wasn’t the issue; aggression was.
So when Kimmi Ascanio started a forward press late in the Wave’s tied match against Utah in game two, aggression was being addressed. A quick dish to Kenza Dali was pinballed to a well-positioned Lia Godfrey.
Godfrey, just onside, made a control touch before ripping it past the goalie to get her first NWSL goal. This goal gave San Diego its first win of the season, earning her the start in game three.
After some early back and forth against the Portland Thorns, Godfrey once again found herself in a position for a lead-changing goal. Shot after shot in the box, the Thorns are swarming, and Dudinha finds Godfrey for a one-timer.
Game four against the Chicago Stars rolls around, and the Wave are all in on Lia Godfrey. On yet another brilliant feed from Dudinha, Godfrey makes one miss and threads the ball through to the nylon for her third goal in three games. And of course, this one puts San Diego on top again.
Godfrey, a Wave godsend?
Godfrey became an NWSL player of the week, rookie of the month, and All-NWSL monthly team in March alone. That sort of recognition will put the league on notice.
This sort of spotlight demands more attention on opposing scouting reports, so it seems Godfrey’s positioning seems like it will fluctuate. The ACC Midfielder of the Year has been lining up in both the middle and right wing positions. Coach Eidevall has commended her on her ability to adapt and excel no matter where she is on the pitch.
Sitting atop the NWSL leaderboards through five matches played has been a pleasant surprise for the Wave faithful. Now, their offensive identity seems to be taking shape. And as the team is currently on a three-week break, that could continue in practice alongside some needed recovery.
What this break could entail is time for San Diego’s newest weapon, Catarina Macario, to get some quality practice with the team. Macario’s injury status and expected debut are still unknown.
The Wave ventures to Denver on April 25, who is 1-1-3 following consecutive draws. What could have been a very slow start to the season has been supercharged by Godfrey, a strong front three, and some energy from the substitutions. It seems that on any given day, someone is bound to step up.
Nate Tubbs is a recent graduate of Journalism at San Diego State University. In his time at SDSU, he wrote and photographed several different sports for Aztec Link, the school’s NIL collective. He also co-hosted a weekly podcast featuring Aztec athletes, sharing their stories and goals for the season. Tubbs is passionate about photography, storytelling, and most of all, San Diego sports.