With a 2-0 win against Racing Louisville on Sunday afternoon at Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego Wave FC secured the 2023 National Women's Soccer League Shield.
The Shield is awarded to the club with the best record at the end of the regular season.
Eighteen-year-old forward Jaedyn Shaw tallied her sixth goal of the season — and ninth of her NWSL career — in the 26th minute with an assist from U.S. Women's National Team star forward and Wave captain Alex Morgan. With the goal, Shaw set a new league record for most career regular-season goals scored by a teenager.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Morgan scored the second goal — 60th of her NWSL career — with an assist from defender Madison Pogarch.
“It just means the world,” said Morgan in a post-game interview with CBS. “Honestly, we came to this game just acting like, you know, if we do our job and get a little luck, we got this. And I feel like we dominated from start to finish. It was really a complete game for this team, and I’m really proud of this team."
Amanda Farr, a member of the Sirens Supporter Group, said it's unbelievable how much the Wave has accomplished with just two years in the league.
"They were just such an explosive expansion team in the NWSL. And so to see them just continue that into their second year and be able to just build on the success and the foundation that they had in their first year it's so exciting," Farr said. "And it's just really thrilling to see … it's great to see them enjoy that success on the field.”
Farr said winning the Shield highlights the remarkable depth of the team, which had multiple season matches without stars like Morgan because they were playing in a World Cup during the summer.
Winning the Shield also means each player in the team will get a $15,000 bonus, and the team goes directly to the semifinals in the NWSL Playoffs. (The runner-up also gets a pass directly to the semis. This year it's the Portland Thorns.)
Next on the schedule: The Wave will host a semifinal match at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 at Snapdragon Stadium. Tickets for the match will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Oct. 17.
The NWSL Championship game is also scheduled in San Diego, at 5 p.m., Nov. 11, at Snapdragon Stadium. But San Diego fans will have to wait until after the Nov. 5 semifinal to find out if the Wave will play on that Championship.
