Wave does it on the road to secure a home playoff game

The upcoming National Women’s Soccer League playoffs will feature at least one home game for the San Diego Wave.

The Wave secured a home match in the quarterfinals after defeating the host North Carolina Courage, 2-1, on Saturday. Melanie Barcenas and Trinity Byars each led San Diego with one goal.

The Wave, which topped the 16-team table prior to the World Cup break, is surging once again. The win over the Courage was the team’s fifth consecutive and seventh in its last eight matches.

The hot streak has elevated the San Diegans much closer to the top of the standings. The Wave remains in second place behind defending champion Gotham FC but has closed to distance considerably to just one standings point.

Gotham (16-5-7) tops the table with 55 points while the Wave (17-8-3) now has 54 points.

The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.

Other teams on the prowl include the Washington Spirit (16-8-4), which trails the Wave by two points and Gotham by three points while the KC Current (14-9-5) sits five points behind the Spirit. The remaining four teams in playoff position include Angel City FC (13-8-7) and the Utah Royals (14-10-4), both one point behind Kansas City, the Portland Thorns (12-8-8), two points behind Angel City and Utah, and the Seattle Reign (13-11-4), one point behind Portland.

Five teams are separated by four standings points.

The victory was key for the Wave as North Carolina (13-12-3) was hot in the chase for a playoff berth. The Courage dropped to ninth place in the standings  — one point behind Seattle.

The Denver Summit (10-10-8) has dropped four points behind North Carolina.

Lia Godfrey set up Barecenas’ goal in the fourth minute while Gia Corley played a through ball to Byars in the 52nd minute for a 2-0 lead. Byars chipped a shot over former Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

Barcenas hit a shot from distance that redirected off the post into the net for the 1-0 tally.

The goal marked Barcenas’ seventh of the season to set a new NWSL single-season record for goals by a teenager (age 18), while Godfrey’s sixth assist tied the club’s single-season record.  

Byars recorded her 11th goal of the season, the most by a San Diego player since Alex Morgan in 2022, to lead the team in scoring ahead of Barcenas.

The NWSL quarterfinals are scheduled Nov. 6-8.

The Wave will host its regular season home finale against Boston Legacy FC on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.