The star power was dimmed a bit on Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
Both the San Diego Wave and Orlando Pride were missing key players in a match that had playoff implications.
Both teams tallied a goal in the first 10 minutes, but Carson Pickett scored the tiebreaking goal in the 54th minute for the Pride, and the Wave’s season-long struggles at home continued in front of 11,660 rowdy fans.
Delphine Cascarino (lower leg), Savannah McCaskill (foot) and Gia Corley (yellow-card suspension) were all unavailable for San Diego, and Orlando was without its captain, Brazilian icon Marta (back).
Cascarino and Corley are two of the more productive pieces in Wave coach Jonas Eidevall’s varied attack. Cascarino is tied for first in the NWSL with five assists. Corley has contributed two goals and two assists.
McCaskill scored the the Wave’s first goal in five matches last week at Portland, her first with the club. She was the 15th different goal scorer for San Diego this season, which leads the NWSL. The league record is 18.
Mexico national team member Jacqueline Ovalle got the scoring started in the seventh minute, taking a pinpoint pass from Ally Watt, and using her left foot to beat DiDi Haračić for her first goal with the Pride.
Two minutes later, Dudinha answered for the Wave by intercepting a pass from Orlando goalie Anna Moorhouse, lifting a shot high enough that Moorhouse, despite getting her hand on it, couldn’t keep out of the goal. It was the Brazilian’s first goal with the Wave.
With the score tied 1-1 at halftime, Pride coach Seb Hines subbed Julie Doyle for Pickett. Oihane Hernandez found a sprinting Picket in the middle of the field, and placed the perfect pass on her. The defender responded by finishing her second goal of the season.
San Diego (8-7-7, 31 points) had several opportunities to tie the match, but Moorhouse wouldn’t allow it.
She finished with five saves, mostly of the spectacular variety, including two in succession in the 74th minute, halting Kimmi Ascanio and Kenza Dali from scoring the equalizer.
The Wave dominated in shots (16-9) and shots on goal (6-2).
San Diego hasn’t won a match since Aug. 16 at Bay FC with only five points separating them from teams outside the playoff positions.
The Wave haven’t won at Snapdragon since May 25, a 3-2 victory over former Wave star Jaedyn Shaw and the North Carolina Courage. Dudinha’s goal was their first goal at home since Aug. 9 in a 1-1 draw with Angel City FC. They are 3-6-3 at home compared to 5-1-4 away.
The Pride (9-8-5, 32 points) snapped a nine-game winless streak (0-5-4) in NWSL matches, and are now fourth in the standings, one point above the Wave.
Orlando is unbeaten (3-0-1) at San Diego with an overall series lead of 5-1-2, including a 2-1 win over the Wave earlier this season at Inter&Co Stadium. Marta had the game-winning penalty kick in that matchup.
The top eight teams in the NWSL standings make the playoffs. With four regular-season matches remaining, the Wave are in a tie for fifth place but just three points ahead of the eighth and final playoff team.
They’ll travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Trinity Rodman and the Spirit next Sunday at Audi Field. The match will start at 10 a.m.
Only one of the Wave’s remaining four games is at Snapdragon, Oct. 18 against the last-place Chicago Stars.
Notable
Entering Friday night’s action, Kenza Dali led the NWSL in total passes with 1,335 with teammate Savannah McCaskill third at 1,183.
• The Kansas City Current clinched the 2025 NWSL Shield with a 2-0 win over Seattle in Week 21, the fastest in league history. The Current have already claimed home playoff games through the semifinals. Five different clubs have now captured the Shield in the last five seasons, including the Wave in 2023 and the Pride in 2024.
• The Current’s 4-1 victory over the Stars at home on Friday night made Chicago the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention this season.
• The Spirit, the Wave’s next opponent, can join the Current in securing a playoff berth with a win at home against the Houston Dash on Sunday. Washington can still clinch a berth with a Louisville draw plus a Seattle win this weekend thanks to both Gotham FC and the Wave winning on Friday night.