Star watch: SD Wave returns to winning ways with 1-0 road result over Washington Spirit

The San Diego Wave FC put aside a two-game home losing streak — 2-0 losses to Angel City FC on July 11 and Seattle Rein on July 26 — to prove turnabout was fair play by ending the host Washington Spirit’s 13-match unbeaten run with a 1-0 road decision on Sunday.

The Wave (10-6-2, 32 points) remained unbeaten in its last five road matches.

The Spirit (11-4-3, 36 points) dropped one point behind first place Gotham FC (11-3-4, 37 points) in the National Women’s Soccer League standings.

San Diego remained in fourth place in the standings — one point behind the third place Utah Royals (10-5-3, 31 points) and three points ahead of the fifth place Kansas City Current (9-7-2, 29 points).

Eight standings points separate the top five teams.

The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.

Portland (8-6-4) resides in sixth place with 28 points while North Carolina (7-6-3) is seventh with 24 points.

Angel City and Seattle are vying for the final playoff berth with 7-7-2 records and 23 points.

The Wave and Spirit battled through heavy rain in the first half before the Southern California visitors scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 60th minute as rookie Lia Godfrey took a pass from second half substitute Trinity Byars and chipped a shot over Washington \goalkeeper Sandy MacIver..

The goal was Godrey’s fifth goal of the season and her fourth game-winner to set a new single-season club record. San Diego held on for the clean sheet behind goalkeeper Sandra Paños, who recorded the first shutout of her NWSL career.

San Diego out-shot the hosts 15-6,

The Wave will next play at Gotham FC, the defending league champions, on Aug. 7, 5 p.m. PDT start.

Cornerkicks
Kristen McNabb made her 100th appearance for San Diego, the first-ever Wave player to reach the milestone in club history.

Meanwhile, Kimmi Ascanio became the youngest player in league history to appear in 50 games.

Life is a rodeo

Photos by Andy Bartotto

The Salinas Rodeo is generally regarded as California’s largest, ranking among the top 15 professional rodeo circuits in north America. The 115-year-old event is held in July  at the Salinas Sports Complex with a seating capacity for 16,500 spectators. A month’s worth of events highlight the rodeo, including parades, barbecues, a carnival and concerts.

There are several rodeos in San Diego County to pass around the spurs. The Lakeside Rodeo, considered to be the premier rodeo in Southern California, is held annually in the spring and features Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned events, bull riding and barrel racing. The Ramona Rodeo is held in late summer while the Poway Rodeo is held at nighttime every fall and features bull riding and traditional rodeo sports.

There are even newcomers to the rodeo schedule, including the San Diego Rodeo (held in January at Petco Park) and last weekend’s Lakeside Summer Stampede (July 31 to Aug. 1 at the Lakeside Rodeo Arena, 12584 Maple Street, Lakeside, 7 p.m. start both days) that featured barrel racing, rough stock, roping and mutton busting.

A good opening night crowd of about 2,100 greeted the new event.

Lakeside Summer Stampede – July 31 to Aug. 1