San Diego Wave get first road win of season in rout of Racing Louisville, 4-1

LOUISVILLE, Ken. -- The Wave started their road trip off with a controlled 4-1 victory over Racing Louisville at Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday afternoon. A three-goal second half for San Diego pushed the match out of reach, claiming their first road victory of the season. 

Both clubs came into the match looking from outside of the NWSL playoff positions. With identical match results in one win, one draw, and two losses, both clubs hoped to improve from their four points earned through the first four NWSL matches. 

Before heading on their two-match road trip, San Diego tasted a 2-0 home defeat by the undefeated Kansas City Current last Saturday. 

Similar story for Racing Louisville, as their last Saturday matchup against the Washington Spirit ended in a 2-0 home loss. 

As Racing looked to improve their home record with their first home victory of the season, San Diego sought their first win on the road. 

After Racing conceded a free kick right outside the penalty box off a handball deflection, Wave midfielder Kenza Dali looped and curled the set-piece shot into the left side netting, giving San Diego the 1-0 advantage at the 17-minute mark.

San Diego opened up the score with their first shot on target and a dominating 68%-32% ball possession advantage as Kenza Dali's unstoppable free kick marked her first career NWSL goal.  

In the closing minutes of the first half saw San Diego Wave committed an outside-the-box foul, as given advantage play saw midfielder Gia Corley take down forward Katie O'Kane in the box but referee Jaclyn Metz blew her whistle for the first infraction. 

After taking a look at the VAR monitor, Metz deemed the advantage play ended in a foul inside the penalty area as she pointed to the spot.

In the sixth minute of added time of the first period, Racing Midfielder Ary Borges stepped up to the spot and slotted a low roller into the right side of the goal, sending Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan the opposite way, equalizing the match 1-1 before the break.  

The Wave lead the NWSL in penalties conceded, with Saturday marking their third consecutive match giving up an attempt at the spot. 

It only took five minutes into the second half for the Wave to regain the lead as forward Delphine Cascarino dribbled past multiple Racing defenders, pulling back a pass and finding forward Melanie Barcenas arriving late into the penalty area as she fired a low driven shot into the net. 

On her first start of the 2025 NWSL season, seventeen-year-old Melanie Barcenas opened up her scoring tally for the year. 

Delphine Cascarino’s third assist of the season pushed her into the NWSL lead in assists as she came into the match tied for first. 

The Wave doubled up their advantage in the 60-minute as a routine save for Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund off a Delphine Cascarino outside-the-box shot bobbled through her arms and legs with the ball ending inside the goal for the 3-1 lead. 

Cascarino wasn't done yet as she found the net once again in the 77-minute off another outside-the-box strike, this time placed in the bottom left corner out of reach for Racing’s Katie Lund. 

Player of the match performance for Delphine Cascarino, scoring her first two goals of the 2025 NWSL season, adding another assist to her league-leading tally. 

The full-time whistle blew at that 4-1 scoreline as the Wave claimed their first road victory of the 2025 NWSL season. 

Wave head coach Jonas Eidevall spoke at the post-match press conference on the winning result and mentality against Racing Louisville on Saturday. 

 “I think it was a good statement for us,” Eidevall said. “We spoke before the game for us, needing to play two good halves.”

“In a mentally tough situation where we concede basically on the last kick of the half, we find a way to focus on ourselves, to focus on what we can control,” Eidevall said. 

“I’m really proud of that,” Eidevall said. “I think that's a really strong mentality to have. It's a mentality where you get results and not excuses. For me, you can't have both. So the consistency in playing both halves and having a good mentality.”

The Wave finished the match winning the possession battle 64%-36% with a 6-2 shots on target advantage, taking more quality shots as the Racing ultimately took more total shots with 14 to San Diego’s 12. 

An impressive victory by the NWSL ball possession leaders as San Diego improves their league record to two victories, two losses and one draw, moving up to seven points gained in the NWSL standings.    

The San Diego Wave continues their road trip for their next NWSL match, heading Midwest to Bridgeview, Illinois, to face off against the Chicago Stars at SeatGeek Stadium on April 26 for a 4:30 kickoff time.