In a game fought tooth and nail to the final minute of extra time, San Diego Wave FC came out with three points, propelling them back to the top of the NWSL table.

SAN DIEGO — Two of the top three teams in the NWSL battled under the Snapdragon lights with the top spot in the NWSL on the line.

Coming to town on a five-game win streak and unbeaten in the last eight, the Washington Spirit were inevitably going to be a major challenge for the home side.

With the x-factor of Trinity Rodman and several equally capable scorers, the Spirit aimed to continue its dominance.

The Wave entered the match tied with the Spirit’s 18 points, just one point shy of Portland. Fresh off a gritty win at Angel City and with coach Eidevall back from a one-game suspension, the club looked to start another win streak. The starting 11 looked a little different, as Gabi Portilho, Trinity Byars, and Gia Corley got the start.

This is Byars’ first professional start after a long road from her initial signing in 2023. The 23-year-old has battled an ACL tear sustained in college and made incremental progress to this moment; she surely wanted to make the most of it.

621 days since tearing her ACL in college, Trinity Byars just did this in her first pro start 🤯

welcome to the @NWSL pic.twitter.com/7ZZTjqRQw1

— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) May 16, 2026

Putting the Wave up 1-0 early was exactly the start both Byars and the team had dreamt of. Ascanio gave her a ball with space to work with, and a beautiful right-footer found the back of the net.

Momentum would go back and forth; the Spirit continued to bring the expected pressure and physicality. They ultimately broke through and found an equaliser off a neatly fed corner kick, headed home by Rebeca Bernal.

Late game heroics

The game went to the half tied 1-1, and would stay like that for the majority of the second half. San Diego brought in Melanie Barcenas, Ludmila, and Lia Godfrey for the second half to try to load up more pressure and attacking presence.

This manifested in Lia Godfrey scoring after pinball in the box, just to get called back to keep the game tied. This was the last meaningful attack San Diego would put together until the 89th minute, when all signs were pointing to a draw.

Dudinha found herself in a footrace, streaking down the right side of the pitch. After a battle for the ball, she earned a corner kick, setting the stage for Kenza Dali to set up a miracle.

Her touch floated mere centimetres out of the goalkeeper Sandy MacIver’s fingertips and right into a lunging Kimmi Ascanio’s forehead. The ball punched home, and Snapdragon erupted.

KIMMI ASCANIO CALLED GAME FOR SD 🌊 pic.twitter.com/7jymgfYXwW

— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) May 16, 2026

They weren’t out of the woods yet, with four minutes of extra time called. Trinity Rodman and company put together a couple of nerve-wracking attacks. Between a couple Didi Haracic saves and near misses, the final whistle blew, and San Diego emerged victorious.

Keeping their heads down

Coach Eidevall was pleased with the performance, but said it is too early in the season to call this a statement win.

“This is a league where you can’t get carried away,” Eidevall said. “We also had a five-game win streak. It’s all about the next game… we need to stay humble and keep our feet on the ground.”

He said that the game plan going into the game was to give Washington’s forwards as little space as possible and to mitigate their transition. While the Wave didn’t dominate in possession, it was a stalemate at midfield for the most part. During the first half, Gia Corley was zipping around like a mosquito, causing problems. Perle Merroni had some class challenges, and Mimi Van Zanten held her own on the edges, going toe to toe with Rodman.

Overall, it was the possession that Eidevall said needed the most improvement. They will have until May 20 to prepare before a road bout against another capable team in the Houston Dash. The Dash held San Diego scoreless in Snapdragon during the season opener, but has been struggling as of late.

Nate Tubbs

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.