a year in review: 2023 edition
We are here.
THE 2023 SEASON REVIEW OF YOUR SHIELD WINNING SAN DIEGO WAVÉ FUTBOL CLUB.
I wanted to stay away from doing a full essay about the season, so instead we’re breaking it down into more digestible bites. Think of it like a coursed meal, with a mix of season tidbits, favorite scenes from the year, and finally player ratings. Vamos.
L'apéritif - a few tastes from the season to set the appetite
There is no denying finishing top of the league and securing a trophy AT HOME is anything short of a successful season in Year 2. [Clearly the shield must weigh more than the championship trophy seeing how the Thorns fumbled it once again in the final game of the season.] Yet it felt like the team was closer to a championship in 2022.
Maybe it was the daunting task of facing Soul of Cinder Laura Harvey. Maybe it was the Megan Rapinoe destiny sendoff buff. Or maybe the fact that advancing meant facing a Gotham FC team they had never dropped points to and the sports gods were ready to pull a very funny (not to me though) joke. It could have been that San Diego’s road to glory had to go through Snapdragon where they held a 5-2-4 record in 2023, securing only 17 of a possible 33 points, ranking them 6th (not good!) in the league.
In the 2022 semifinal, it felt like the winner of that match would end up lifting the championship trophy. It didn’t feel that way this year.
Despite the struggles at home, Casey Stoney’s squad were absolute road warriors. They led the league in Away Points (20), Away Wins (6), Goal Differential (+7) and Goals Allowed (6). They also allowed a similar amount of goals at home (16!!)...similar in that the only thing they have in common is the number 6. I don’t know how much of that is Stoney’s game planning or just the fact they outperformed their Expected Goals Against by double (12.1 xGA in away games).
Speaking of defying expectations, remember when they went more than 2 months (9 games) without a win in all competitions, but still finished top of the league? The Challenge Cup made up 4 of those 9 matches, but I don’t want to spend too much time on those games because most were unwatchable. Stoney played with a variety of looks that entire tournament which I liked at the time, but maybe that messed with players ability to find some flow on offense. Anyway, the funniest thing about that entire winless streak was it started after beating Gotham FC, and was snapped against them.
One final silly note regarding the season: Through the first 11 games of the season, Wavé were 6-2-3, and I believe top of the league (could not verify). They only outperformed their opponents xG in 6 of those matches. Through the final 11 games of the season, San Diego went 5-2-4 but outperformed opponents xG in 7 of 10 games (one was even).
Botana - snack-sized superlatives to satiate
Living Best Life Win of the Year: 9/30 at Thorns
moved Wave top of the league
secured 4 of 6 points from Portland
Alex Morgan breaks goalless drought from May 20 in all competitions
possibly biased because I was in attendance
atmosphere was electric
HONORABLE MENTION: 8/16 vs Gotham
ended winless streak
Shae Yanez showcases potential with 2 massive saves
Melanie Barcenas 1st career assist to Amirah Ali seals game
Hate This Day Loss of the Year: 6/17 vs Angel City FC
Barcenas late mistake leads to Angel City winning goal
ACFC had just fired coach
Kristen McNabb probably scored goal of the season
was 1 of of 3 brutal losses to last place teams:
4/29 vs ORL, winless through 4 games, 1 goal for and 10 goals against going into match, 3-1
9/16 vs KC, 2-1
ALL 3 WERE HOME LOSSES
Favorite Wave Goal: 7’ Dahlkemper at ORL
Abby Dahlkemper marks her return with a banger in a big game
could see how meaningful it was, not just to her, but the team as a whole
Smiling Through It Best Opponent Goal: 4/29 - 42’ Hanson
a silly game merited a silly goal, a ridiculous cross matched by a once-in-a-lifetime header from Haley Hanson almost 18 yards away from goal
HONORABLE MENTION: 8/19 vs Gotham
Despite Yanez putting on a show in goal late, Gotham managed a garbage time beaut
Ifeoma Onumonu fadeaway bicycle kick pass to a Katie Stengel one-timer outside the box. Nasty stuff, thankfully all just fluff
Most Important Player: Jaedyn Shaw
pretty obvious
massive move giving her a contact extension through 2025
watching her develop as an attacking mid is going to be fun
you knew it would be a special season when she scored this banger in the season opener
Folk Hero: Danielle Colaprico
our beloved Minute Menace
best offseason acquisition
elite grinder covering entire pitch
Captain of Vibes: Madison Pogarch
life of the party in every video she was in
has some “you just drop in, smack the lip…waapah! Just drop down... swoopah!” energy
postgame answer to scoring goal was awesome
Assistant Captain of Vibes: Jaedyn Shaw
only player with real goal cellys
need more contributions from rest of team in 2024
surfing celebration rules so hard
Best Villain Origin Story: Paige Nielson mad online 4/23/23
getting cooked then highlighting online
“Alex Morgan knew what she was doing…so bad…”
might be first real incident that sparks the Chanclasico
the icing was later seeing this tweet has been deleted
can read old thoughts on the rivalry here
L'entrée - you are here for a meal (of player ratings)
Let’s talk about the shield winning squad, complete with a rating and a couple thoughts on each. This is how it’s going to go: Players will be listed in order of minutes played this season. I will only rate players with at least 5 games played. Why? Because I can do that! (Actually it’s because that’s how many Dahlkemper played).
Now for the ratings. Will we use stars? No, this isn’t Yelp. This isn’t a hotel. Will it be on the 1-10 scale used in FIFA? No, because what actually separates a 6.3 from a 6.8? I have no idea, nor care to be honest. We’re going to rate players on this straightforward rubric: Impressed, Obsessed, Distressed. Some players will have a N/T because I have no thoughts.
Ready? Let’s kick this off with freshly re-signed right back and Iron Woman:
Christen Westphal - IMPRESSED
1,966 minutes played
22 matches, 22 starts
The Eye Test had me believe Westphal had been more of an offensive threat in 2022 than 2023. The numbers say she only had 3 fewer crosses (35) this season and was 2nd on the team in Assists with 4. While I hoped Wave would add one of Sarah Gorden (re-signed with ACFC) or Casey Krueger (free agent) to replace Westphal, the team’s main issues were never the back 4. They still need to acquire defensive depth, but this keeps the hope alive for a big offensive acquisition.
Danielle Colaprico - OBSESSED
1,727 minutes played
22 matches, 21 starts
A gargantuan of the midfield–tracking, tackling, intercepting and bullying any would-be attackers in her own half. By far the best acquisition of 2023 and the most consistent player on the squad not named Naomi Girma.
Naomi Girma - OBSESSED
1,710 minutes played
19 matches, 19 starts
I can’t really say more about her than I already said here. We are all thankful she signed an extension so we can keep seeing her here (hopefully) through 2026.
Kailen Sheridan - IMPRESSED
1,709 minutes played
19, matches, 19 starts
She followed up her 2022 Goalkeeper of the Year campaign with a 2023 nomination, tied for 1st in Clean Sheets (9), 2nd in Goals Against per 90 (0.95), 3rd in Save% (79.7%.) and receiver of a contract extension thru 2025 (club option 2026). I also learned she is 1 of 2 current NWSL keepers who started their rookie years from this thread.
Kaleigh Riehl - DISTRESSED
1,634 minutes played
19 matches, 18 starts
Over the past 2 seasons, Riehl stepped in seamlessly covering for a USWNT starter and playing a major role in one of the best defensive units in the league. I hoped they would keep her on for defensive depth but she deserves to be a starter.
Alex Morgan - DISTRESSED
1,573 minutes played
18 matches, 18 starts
Morgan has been everything you can ask from a superstar signing: MVP caliber player, team leader, community oriented. But veteran superstars of her caliber also come with a caveat: when and how do you reduce playing time. Morgan had a great season, but she also went from May 06 - Sept. 30 between scoring goals in all competitions, a span of 13 games (1,051 minutes). She wasn’t playing bad. During this stretch, she managed 5 games with an xG of at least 0.6, and 3 of those games over 1.0. It was a combination of maybe fatigue and yips, yet USWNT Vlatko Andonovski continued to play her full matches with game results still hanging in the balance. What Casey Stoney suffers from in this scenario is not allowing her attack or formation to be flexible outside of Morgan as the central focal point. In the 19 NWSL matches she featured in 2023 (including semifinal), she was removed before the 89th minute just 3 times. Morgan credits Casey Stoney with helping revitalize her career, so I hope there’s enough trust between them to manage Morgan’s minutes better. The Women’s Gold Cup this year won’t be as demanding as a World Cup window so I believe another MVP season from Morgan is there.
Jaedyn Shaw - OBSESSED
1,487 minutes played
22 matches played, 19 starts
What a year for our mercurial midfield maestro: solidified herself as a must-start in her first full season, moved to central role and is now the conductor of the offense, earned 3 year extension from team, earned first senior USWNT cap in October, scored first USWNT goal days after debut (in San Diego!). For Jae, here’s to health, striker help, and a championship hunger that inspires a cup lifting squad in 2024.
Kristen McNabb - N/T
1,157 minutes played
13 matches, 13 starts
Scored probably the coolest goal of the year vs ACFC, but injured for most of the second half of the season. Was initially surprised they protected her from the expansion draft, but it makes sense if you think about the players Stoney had to use in her absence.
Makenzy Doniak - a little DISTRESSED, a little IMPRESSED
1,126 minutes played
21 matches, 11 starts
There was a trifecta of players I didn’t understand why Stoney used so much. 2 of them are now gone. Doniak, the better of the 3, re-signed a 2 year contract. She’s a fine player, adding depth on both offense and defense. Her grinder-style engine on the pitch consistently wins aerial duels, tackles, and intercepts passes well while rarely being dispossessed. For me, she was called on too many times off the bench when the team desperately needed more direct, offensive-minded players like Amirah Ali or Sofia Jakobsson. I hope her role next year either helps spell Colaprico late in games or is brought into games to expose tired legs. She won’t always outrun players, but she has the legs to chase opponents into mistakes.
Rachel Hill - N/T
1,072 minutes played
17 matches, 15 starts
This would have read DISTRESSED had she not been taken in the expansion draft. No Goals or Assists in all those minutes. Not sure what Stoney saw in practice that never materialized in games, or if she was being stubborn on her only offensive acquisition from the offseason working out.
Sofia Jakobsson - N/T
845 minutes played
16 matches, 8 starts
I wrote a lot about Morgan’s season earlier with the caveat she was coming off a tough World Cup schedule. I want to give the same benefit to Jakobsson here. She’s one of the best on the team in 1v1s and a season with less international minutes away from San Diego will hopefully keep her in more of a flow within the team. With Hill out and barring a RW acquisition, she should see more starts and be one of the first options off the bench.
Madison Pogarch - IMPRESSED
784 minutes played
16 matches, 7 starts
With one of the best personalities off the pitch, she was an absolute wild card on it, never one to shy away from running, yelling, or chirping at opponents. She also went in for some reckless tackles and I’m surprised she never saw red. She was one of those players you could count on to defend her teammates and I’m hoping someone else can step into that role next season. They definitely didn’t have a presence like that in 2022.
Emily van Egmond - N/T
766 minutes played
10 matches, 9 starts
Her minutes went down drastically from 2022 (1,935) due to a back injury early in the year and then the World Cup window. She’s currently a free agent and playing in Australia with Newcastle. I wonder if she waits to sign (or San Diego waits to announce her return) until her season is over.
Sierra Enge - a little impressed, a little distressed
698 minutes played
10 matches, 7 starts
SDWFC didn’t have a pick in the first 2 rounds of the 2023 NWSL Draft. So they traded $100k in allocation money for Gotham’s 2nd round pick, 13th overall. They took Enge, Girma’s former teammate at Stanford. She was then left unprotected from the expansion draft, was picked by Bay FC, traded to Houston, then reacquired by San Diego for Belle Briede, a 2024 3rd round pick and $60k in allocation money. What’s impressive are the resources they’ve invested in Enge. What’s distressing is, if they thought so highly of her, why wasn’t she protected in the first place? To me, 8 of the players protected were obvious. The final spot was a wild card. They chose to protect McNabb, but with the players Wave left unprotected, I can’t imagine she was in the top 4 of either team’s list.
Taylor soon-to-be-Flint Kornieck - DISTRESSED
681 minutes played
16 matches, 6 starts
An illness and abdomen injury derailed a run of form that would have probably seen Taylor Kornieck in Australia this summer with the USWNT. She missed a month of playing time between April and May, which is what likely made Andonovski hesitant to bring her into the squad. She also missed the entire month of August. Kornieck has been used in a variety of roles under Casey Stoney–attacking mid highlighting her ability to press and disrupt, a defensive mid winning aerial duels and blocking shots, a winger feeding through balls and creating space with underrated dribbling skills, a striker for her aerial presence–nothing has been left unturned in trying to maximize her skill set. But I’d like to see her used more in particular game situations rather than fixed roles. Putting her in the old Marouane Fellaini closer role to hold results could be a revelation. Imagine, a box of Kornieck, Colaprico, Dahlkemper and Girma grinding out a 1-0 win…the kind of stuff that brings tears to Jose Mourinho. And in the same sense, moving her up the pitch or subbing on later in a match to chase a goal.
With a clean bill of health, I have no doubt she can get back into a form that had her doing promos for the Women’s World Cup. Which could be another issue; Kornieck gets treated harshly when it comes to fouls, presumably because of her height. She ranks 21st in fouls committed yet she’s the only player in the top 34 with less than 1,000 minutes played. Equally, Kornieck takes harsh fouls that are rarely carded, when they’re even called fouls at all. Stoney was vocal about this last season.
Casey Stoney after game vs OL Reign Aug. 4, 2023. From Taylor Vincent (@tayvincent6)
Meggie Dougherty Howard - N/T
579 minutes played
12 matches, 8 starts
I got nothing. Hope she has a better Year 2?
Amirah Ali - DISTRESSED
462 minutes played
16 matches, 5 starts
Coming into 2023, I thought it would be a breakout year for Ali. Slowed by injuries in 2022, she hit the ground running game one this past year, scoring in a 3-2 win over Chicago. She started the first 4 games of the season then didn’t see a league start until the 10th game of the season. Hill started all but one of the games between the Ali starts. I get Stoney needed to give Hill a shot, but their disparity in playing time is what gets me, considering Hill's lack of productivity.
Abby Dahlkemper - OBSESSED
450 minutes played
5 matches, 5 starts
What a comeback! Spinal fusion surgery, no minutes since Sept. 25, 2022, plays 45 minutes in a Challenge Cup match Aug. 5, 2023, starts the next 6 games, plays every minute, contributes to a defense that allowed 3 goals in 540+ minutes. Like! Won’t shy away from saying she looked bad in 2022, but it all made sense after the news of the surgery came out. Now, just need to see how she handles a full season’s workload. (The squad needs depth defenders so bad)
Kyra Carusa - IMPRESSED
342 minutes played
7 matches, 4 starts
Carusa more like Caruthless in the box. She has that striker grit–this energy that propels her to find the ball and get her body on it, regardless of the cost. It gives her style of play attitude. And that attitude comes out after she scores too (see goal at Portland). She’s not someone who is going to get bullied by some leg-hacking defender and the team desperately needs more of that on the pitch. I would love to see the squad set up in a 4-4-2 or 5-3-2 with Morgan and Carusa up top. I think they complement each other well, we just didn’t get to see enough of it last season.
Isabella Briede - N/T
254 minutes played
7 matches, 2 starts
Gone.
Kelsey Turnbow - DISTRESSED
151 minutes played
7 matches, 0 starts
Leading up to the expansion draft, I saw two publications write pieces on unprotected players to keep an eye on and both had Kelsey Turnbow. She has a ton of talent, but it’s hard to be patient with development when a team is in a win-now window. Despite the lack of minutes, she does one thing particularly better than everyone else on the team: Completed Crosses into the Penalty Area. Turnbow’s magic left foot led the team with 6. For context, one of the best RBs in the world Sophia Huerta led the league with 20. Rookie of the Year winner Jenna Nighswonger had 13. Turnbow’s 6 puts her tied with a bunch of players for 10th, despite playing a fraction of the minutes. Oh look an example of one:
The best part is, she had a gnarlier cross in the 95th minute that almost won that game. If you have Paramount+, pull up the replay (7-8-23 vs WAS). I feel like the Turnbow + Kornieck + Carusa connection could break some hearts in 2024.
Melanie Barcenas - IMPRESSED
123 minutes
7 matches, 0 starts
15-years-old and cutting up against grown adults is insane. Some of the instincts she’s shown on the ball with her back to players, feeling pressure and turning away…she might be generational. That said, she is prone to taking an extra dribble when a good pass is available and forces take-ons a bit. But those are things that will hopefully iron themselves out with more playing time. As the 2024 roster stands, she’s probably my third choice offensive substitution.
Casey Stoney - Year 2
IMPRESSED - won trophy Year 2, consecutive seasons making the playoffs
OBSESSED - signed core players through 2025, added Barcenas and Carusa
DISTRESSED - in-game adjustments questionable, puzzling substitutions or lack thereof
Thanks to those who read along all year and welcome to all first timers.
fin.
