Alex Morgan’s departure doesn’t change Wave’s approach to playoff run – San Diego Union-Tribune

Alex Morgan will end his football career on Sunday.

However, I will not deviate from my prediction that the 12th-place team will advance to the postseason, earning one of eight spots in the 14-team National Women’s Soccer League.

Morgan’s playing career will come to an end when the 35-year-old striker walks off the pitch at Snapdragon Stadium to the cheers of a large crowd. Morgan said it will be a “time-limited” appearance because she is several weeks pregnant.

Unless Naomi Girma, 24, and Kailen Sheridan, 28, also retire, the Wave will be dealing with the loss of their star, who provides valuable leadership but has failed to score in 12 games this season.

Girma and Sheridan form the league’s best centre-back/goalkeeper duo, increasing the chances that the Wave’s ongoing shift to a more attacking style — something Jill Ellis sought when she fired coach Casey Stoney in late June — will finally come to fruition.

It is no coincidence that since Stoney’s departure, a more relaxed schedule — in terms of opponents, rest and travel — has allowed the Wave to improve their results.

They have rarely taken advantage of that so far, with a record of 0-3-1 and a 7-2 deficit.

But opportunities will continue to arise.

That’s how it works in the top American men’s and women’s soccer leagues, where 57 percent (NWSL) and 62 percent (Major League Soccer) of teams make it to the postseason, but there are too few true stars.

Of the eight upcoming matches, the Wave will be favorites or favourites in six if Girma and Sheridan support the more aggressive attacking play expected by Ellis, who won two World Cups as U.S. coach.

The Wave are currently the favorites despite being seven spots behind their opponent, the fifth-place North Carolina Courage, and despite not having won any of their last 11 regular-season games.

The explanation is Carolina’s serious road struggles, where they are 1-8 and have been outscored 15-4. Perhaps the away fans are worrying the Courage, whose average home attendance of just under 6,000 puts them last in the league and isn’t even a third of the league’s top Wave, which has 19,633.

Last-place Houston and mediocre Racing Louisville will also come to Mission Valley.

Both are coming off a goal deficit against Girma and Sheridan — Houston has failed to score a goal in five games, while Louisville has scored just once in four games.

The Wave will face Utah on Sunday, ending a three-game homestand.

Even though the Royals are an expansion club on the rise, they fell 30-13 this year.

With the Portland Thorns regressing from a long-time standout after a poor season, the Wave are favored in only two of their last eight games — away games against Carolina and Kansas City.

The Wave will soon have their best offensive player back, Jaedyn Shaw. “We’re on the edge of being ready,” interim coach Landon Donovan said Saturday.

There are still plenty of possibilities.

The problem is that instead of watching the game from the pitch, Morgan will be cheering from the stadium or from his home.

Originally published: September 7, 2024 at 4:26 PM