Before a record crowd Saturday night in Washington D.C., San Diego Wave FC allowed a spectacular, stunning goal in the final minute that denied them a breakthrough victory.
More so than any other tie in the club’s three years, the 1-1 result stung.
“I’m gutted for the players, I really am,” said Wave coach Casey Stoney.
Instead of celebrating their first road victory in six road matches, the Wave walked off with one point and painful lessons because the Spirit turned a 60-yard counterattack into a world-class goal scored by rookie Croix Bethune.
On a dead sprint near the top of the box, Bethune chested a deflected ball forward to a perfect spot. From eight yards out and defender Naomi Girma closing fast, the 5-foot-3 Bethune ripped the bouncing ball between Kailen Sheridan and the left post.
Asked for an offensive player’s view on what Bethune pulled off was Wave star Jaedyn Shaw.
“It was a great goal by Croix. She’s been ballin’. I guess good for her,” said Shaw, who scored in the first half.
“But,” said the 19-year-old Shaw, “this kind of sucks for us. We wanted the three points. We literally had like 30 seconds left in the game. We’ve just got to take that, learn from it and move on to the next game.”
Said Stoney: “It’s bitterly disappointing to concede it. It feels like a loss when you’ve been in front for so long and played well.”
Ninth-place San Diego (3-5-4) had played well for the most part before an announced crowd of 19,987 that was the largest for a Spirit home match in the franchise’s 13 seasons.
“We like an atmosphere like that. It’s good for the game,” Stoney said.
The Spirit initially staggered the Wave with a press that initially was higher than anticipated.
But after weathering a few rough moments, including Bethune’s liner off the post from 12 yards, the Wave found their footing against a third-place club that had won its past four matches.
“They were tremendous on both sides of the ball,” Stoney said of her players. “We played some really good stuff at times. We created some really good moments…and defended so well for so long in the game.”
“We’ve got to take away the positives,” Shaw said
One of the lessons they should to New Jersey for Wednesday’s match against Gotham?
Have Shaw room with Maria Sanchez, the forward who joined the Wave last month.
When Shaw put away a gorgeous crossing pass from the lefty Sanchez for a 1-0 lead in the 20th minutes, the two fulfilled their prematch forecast.
“We’re actually roommates this trip so we were like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s going to click now, we’re going to be connect, even though we’re on opposite sides, we’re going to be connected,” Shaw said. “I knew what she wanted to do. Al (Alex Morgan) made a good run to the front post that allowed me to be open.”
Shaw tripped in her attempt to one-time the ball home. Showing rare balance, she recovered and poked her third goal, matching Makenzy Doniak for team honors.
The victory-denying sequence began with Sheridan’s 60-yard that dealt forward Kyra Carusa at tough gather attempt. The ball caromed to the Spirit’s Casey Krueger near the left sideline.
Krueger, 33, had played the whole match. But, punishing the Wave for allowing her spacen, was able to pound a long pass to the top of the box.
Retreating, Wave defender Abby Dahlkemper headed the ball sideways to her right. It went to Bethune, the NWSL’s assist leader.
That doink – from UCLA alum to USC alum – was pivotal only because Bethune pounced so well despite having no doubt run several miles over the match.
“We were just a little bit naive at the end in terms of where we put the ball, how we dealt with the ball,” Stoney said. “Listen, that header can go anywhere. It just feels like we can’t catch a break. But, you make your own luck. So we’ll keep working. We’ll keep trying to do the right things.”
“At the end of the day,” she added, “we should be able to give the ball away in that area and not concede. We were a little bit spread at the back. You can’t take away anything from Bethune. She’d done well getting in between. Hit it to herself. Good finish.”