The scoreboard showed a 2-2 tie.
The players’ body language showed a bitter defeat.
Team captain Kenza Dali squatted at midfield, even after coach Jonas Eidevall had spoken to the squad for several minutes.
Nearby, midfielder Kimmi Ascanio stared at the ground.
Never mind that the Wave have earned a quarterfinals playoff match that will be played in Mission Valley on a November day and time to be determined.
The tie burned.
Because the match was very winnable.
Because the Wave want the franchise’s second regular-season title.
And because the Wave, who understand the short- and long-term windfall of bringing playoff matches to San Diego, are eager to secure homefield advantage for a semifinal match, too.
The 13th-place Boston Legacy, an expansion club, scored two goals in the second half and held on for the point before an announced crowd of 15,701 in Mission Valley.
The Wave will finish the regular season Sunday in San Jose against 14th-place Bay FC. A tie would ensure that if the Wave indeed advance to the postseason semifinal, it’ll be in San Diego.
A Wave victory coupled with a loss by first-place Gotham, which will play at home against sixth-place Utah, would bring San Diego its second NWSL Shield to go with the one won three years ago by Alex Morgan and friends.
“I understand the disappointment,” Eidevall said. “The most important thing is we have to get ready for next weekend.”
The coach added: “We have a lot to play for. Which is really exciting and important.”
The Wave didn’t play up to their recent high standard that had produced seven wins and one defeat in eight games.
But the goal that tied the match for good, 2-2, was worthy of the women’s World Cup that will be played next year.
No surprise, it came off the foot of a Spaniard.
Alba Cano ripped a wicked 25-yard shot. The ball tailed away from the lunging attempt by Wave goalkeeper Sandra Paños, a fellow Spaniard.
“They hit an absolute magical shot — it ties the game,” Eidenall said.
The Wave had taken a 2-1 lead by scoring twice within three minutes early in the second half after the Legacy had gone ahead 1-0 on a high-quality goal.
Eidenall and midfielder Melanie Barcenas said the Wave probably should have scored in the first half.
The coach and defender Kristen McNabb said the team will grow from the disappointment of not grabbing hold of the match.
Everyone pointed out that the Wave’s response to falling behind 1-0 was first-rate.
Gia Corley pinpointed a low skidder that hit the inside of far post, tying it 1-1. Barcenas, a San Diego native who’s one week shy of her 19th birthday, set up Corley by driving with the ball for 15 yards, drawing the defense inward and passing to her left to create an angle for Corley’s two-touch effort and her fourth goal in five games.
A four-pass sequence culminating Dali’s crisp cross to Lia Godfrey, crashing the net, led to a go-ahead score that went down as an own goal.
The Wave said they once again treated the game as they would an NWSL final match. That mindset, Eidevall said, will pay off. Even with the 2-2 result.
“So,” he said, explaining that dividend, “we’ve been here before. We know what to do. We know what’s important for us. If you can be there, be that, then you can handle those pressurized situations as well.”
To hear Barcenas, who dazzled the crowd with bursts of dribbling that kept Legacy defenders on their heels, the disappointing tie won’t linger
“The sky’s the limit for our team,” she said. “I think we’re just even hungrier now after tonight.”
The playoffs are coming. Which means more San Diegans will be paying attention. The Wave wouldn’t have it any other way.