Even if the goal they scored was sprinkled with pixie dust, the Wave did not luck their way to Sunday’s 1-1 tie defending NWSL champion NJ/NY Gotham FC before an announced crowd of 16,074 at Snapdragon Stadium.
They outplayed Gotham in the second half, after hearing challenging words from coach Casey Stoney during the intermission. They saw goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan add to her bona fides as a favorite of soccer aficionados. They persevered through a test of insufficient rest and injuries for both teams.
So, as ties go, it was pretty good, enabling the Wave (3-3-2) to add a point and keep Gotham (3-2-3) from turning a 1-0 halftime lead into a three-point windfall.
Yet the goal itself left some Wave players chuckling, and put a dazed look on the woman who scored it — rookie defender Hanna Lundkvist — after she discovered the ball went off the back or side of her head into the goal.
The 5-foot-7 Lundkvist jumped as Savannah McCaskill’s corner kick approached her in the 64th minute. The ball appeared to strike the Swede near the side and back of her head, sending it past a surprised goalkeeper.
“It wasn’t the prettiest goal, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure it was me that scored it,” said Lundkvist, who nonetheless called it “super exciting” to collect her first goal with the Wave.
“It was magic,” McCaskill quipped.
It wasn’t clear who jumped higher, Lundkvist in her attempt to head the ball or Stoney. The former English team captain made a running leap in celebration on the home sideline.
“I don’t care how it goes in sometimes,” Stoney said. “If it goes in off someone’s back, neck, head, knee, as long as it goes in the back of the net I don’t really care.”
For style points, the play of the match belonged to Sheridan when she deflected a point-blank liner in the shadows.
Stoney said the save left her in disbelief, despite her oft-stated belief that Sheridan, the longtime starter for Canada and the 2022 NWSL goalkeeper of the year, stands as the world’s best goalkeeper.
“It was catlike, unbelievable,” she said. “It’s a privilege that she plays for us. I think we’re privileged. I really do. I’ve seen many a goalkeeper that are good. I’ve never seen someone quite as world-class as Kailen.”
Sheridan was afforded no chance by Gotham on the shot that put the Wave into a 1-0 deficit in the 25th minute.
Ella Stevens tamed a crossing into the box with her left foot, pivoted and slammed a 12-yard liner with her right foot. The ball whistled between the left post and Sheridan before the ‘keeper could make a leap.
The sequence punished Wave defenders for loose play. Turnovers and other miscues marred the home team’s first half.
Stoney made herself clear at halftime, according to both the coach and McCaskill.
“I can’t repeat all of it,” Stoney said. “It was more about, get ahold of the ball. Move the ball quicker. Win more duels. I didn’t think we were winning enough duels in the first half. Believe in yourselves. You’re a better team than you’ve shown.”
McCaskill said the players listened to and applied the advice.
“That was the difference in the second half,” she said.
With Gotham showing some signs of fatigue, playing three times zones away four days after winning a match in New Jersey, the Wave “did a really good job of stretching (Gotham’s) back line but also exploiting their pockets when they were dropping,” McCaskill said.
The Wave, playing their third match in 10 days, picked up the pace following Stoney’s insertion of several substitutes led by María Sánchez in the 46th minute, followed by Kyra Carusa and Amirah Ali 13 minutes later and Kaitlyn Torpey in the 72nd minute.
It wasn’t the Gotham match the Wave would’ve listed first on their wish list. Gotham, after all, would’ve been the opponent in the NWSL championship match last November, if the Wave had not lost to the Seattle-based Reign in the semifinals.
But instead of losing to Gotham for the first time in the six matches, the Wave extended their home-unbeaten streak to four contests despite once again lacking Naomi Girma and Alex Morgan.
They’ll return home for a June 7 match, following road games in San Jose and Los Angeles against Bay FC and Angel City.
