To make the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs, the San Diego Wave need to get hot, get lucky, and hope other teams fighting for the top eight spots stumble.
They caught a break earlier this week, when Angel City FC lost three points in the NWSL standings and was fined after an investigation found that ACFC violated salary-cap rules by cutting side deals with players. Angel City drops to 12th place in the standings.
The NWSL also suspended Angel City’s CEO and general manager through the end of the calendar year and announced that it would be auditing all teams’ player contracts on an annual basis.
“The NWSL remains committed to maintaining fairness and transparency across all clubs, reinforcing the importance of adhering to established rules and upholding the competitive balance within the league,” the NWSL said in a release.
All this could help the Wave, who have won four of their last five matches in NWSL and Concacaf W Champions Cup play heading into Saturday’s game against the fifth-place North Carolina Courage. The 4 p.m. match will be broadcast on Fox 5 and KUSI.
The Wave are 5-10-7 and 10th in the NWSL standings with four regular-season matches remaining. They sit three points behind ninth-place Louisville; six points behind Portland and Bay FC, who are in seventh and eighth place, respectively; and four points behind sixth-place Chicago. (Teams earn three points for a win and one point for a tie).
After returning from North Carolina, San Diego will host the Houston Dash on Oct. 13, play at the Kansas City Current on Oct. 19 and host Racing Louisville on Nov. 3. (Also scheduled: An Oct. 16 Concacaf W Champions Cup match that doesn’t count toward the NWSL standings.)
San Diego is coming off one of its most impressive NWSL wins of the season. Mya Jones and Melanie Barcenas scored second-half goals as the Wave beat the Portland Thorns 2-0 last Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“We deserve and we’re earning the right now to win these games,” Wave interim coach Landon Donovan said. “Six weeks ago, we did not deserve it and were not earning the right. This game would’ve been a tie or a loss six weeks ago.”
Notable
• Defender Naomi Girma was named to the NWSL’s Best XI for September. Girma recorded a ing accuracy of 91.88 percent in five matches.
• Defender Kennedy Wesley has been named the NWSL Rookie of the Month for September. The rookie scored a goal in a 4-1 loss to North Carolina on Sept. 8.
