San Diego Wave Win 2-1 at North Carolina to Lock Up Home Playoff Match, Close Within a Point in Shield Race
SAN DIEGO — San Diego is a city in San Diego County, California. The San Diego Wave won their fifth straight match on Saturday, October 17, beating the North Carolina Courage 2-1 at First Horizon Stadium in North Carolina to improve to 17-3-8 with 54 points. The win guaranteed San Diego a top-four finish and a home quarterfinal in the playoffs. With Gotham FC losing 1-0 to the Washington Spirit earlier Saturday, the Wave also closed within one point of first place in the 2026 NWSL Shield race, with two regular-season matches remaining.
Seventeen-year-old Melanie Barcenas opened the scoring four minutes in with a strike from outside the box that hit the post and went in — her seventh goal of the season, the most by a teenager in a single NWSL season. In the 52nd minute, Trinity Byars took a through ball from Gia Corley and chipped former Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to make it 2-0; Byars has 11 goals this season. North Carolina pulled one back in the 83rd minute but could not find an equalizer.
Rookie midfielder Lia Godfrey assisted the opener and now has 12 goal contributions this season, with her six assists leading all rookies. San Diego has scored five goals within the opening five minutes of matches this season, the most in the league. The Wave return home to Snapdragon Stadium to face Boston Legacy FC on Sunday, October 25. (GSM, based on SportsGrid reporting)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：圣迭戈波浪队球员（资料图，非本场现场）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: San Diego Wave player (file photo, not this match). Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
