The San Diego Wave will play their second game of the 2024 NWSL regular season this Friday, March 29, against the Seatle Reign at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego began the 2024 season with a huge 1-0 win in the NWSL Challenge Cup against Gotham FC, but are coming off a 2-1 loss to Kansas City Current in their first game of the regular season.

That game against Kansas City was played at Snapdragon Stadium, and it was a very hard-fought match and a highly disappointing way to open the season. San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney very clearly said that the final third was the key issue in that home-opener loss.

The Wave did play well against the Current, but those issues in the final third led to the disappointing result in front of over 30 thousand fans at the Mission Valley Fortress. San Diego fired 16 shots (five on target in their home-opener, as Sofia Jakobsson scored the lone goal of the match for Casey Stoney’s side.

Jaedyn Shaw came off the bench against Kansas City, as Casey Stoney mentioned that she was not “fit.” Shaw is one of the key offensive playmakers for the Wave and it will be interesting to see if she can get the start in this match against Seattle.

The Reign have rebranded from the OL Reign to the Seattle Reign and now begin a new chapter without Megan Rapinoe as well. Rapinoe played the last game of her illustrious career with the Reign in the NWSL final last season at Snapdragon Stadium, which turned out to be a heartbreaking night for the USWNT star. Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett have also joined Gotham FC, as this is quite a different team for Lauren Harvey to work with this season.

Jordyn Huitema has already scored twice at Snapdragon Stadium and the Canadian striker will be one of the key players to watch in this match. Former Chelsea star Ji So-Yun is also a very intriguing player for the Reign this season in a playmaking role for the offense.Seattle has a very strong midfield led by Jessica Fishlock, as this is set to be a very tough match for the Wave in their second game at home this season. 

San Diego has never beaten the Reign in eight official games played between the two teams, and they are looking to change that in this match.

Francisco Velasco

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.