{"id":286965,"date":"2026-04-26T16:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286965\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T16:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:07:17","slug":"san-diego-wave-beat-denver-summit-in-stunning-comeback-to-maintain-no-1-spot-in-nwsl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286965\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Wave beat Denver Summit in stunning comeback to maintain No. 1 spot in NWSL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Wave enjoyed a comeback win in Denver on Saturday night to maintain their spot atop the National Women\u2019s Soccer League table.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego pulled a stunning turnaround, climbing back after entering halftime with a two-goal deficit. Thanks to a trio of goals in 16 minutes, including one own goal, the visiting team beat the expansion side Denver Summit before their first sellout crowd at Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods Park.<\/p>\n<p>Denver had a hot start in the first half, with attacking duo Melissa K\u00f6ssler and Natasha Flint continuing their dominance this season and scoring in the 16th and 32nd minutes, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>But once San Diego found its momentum, it reminded fans why it remains the No. 1 team in the league with a 5-1-0 record. Saturday\u2019s win extended its winning streak to five; the team has not lost since its opening match of the season against the Houston Dash, which ended 1-0.<\/p>\n<p>NWSL rookie Lia Godfrey opened the scoring for San Diego, recording her fourth goal this season in the 49th minute off a smooth give-and-go in the box with teammate Kimmi Ascanio.<\/p>\n<p>Eight minutes later, defender Kennedy Wesley carried her momentum from a standout USWNT camp last week, scoring a stunning header off a corner kick to equalize. Just eight days prior, Wesley scored her first U.S. goal in near-identical fashion in Denver. That U.S. goal was scored with her foot but also off a corner.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">April 17: Kennedy Wesley <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USWNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@USWNT<\/a> goal in CO<\/p>\n<p>Tonight: Kennedy Wesley Wave goal in CO <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Vynhps6ant\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/Vynhps6ant<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sandiegowavefc\/status\/2048224628305522926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know, there\u2019s something in that Denver air,\u201d Wesley said during her postgame interview on Ion. \u201cThere\u2019s something in that goal, in particular, but ultimately, I have Lia to thank. That ball was literally perfect. I was just happy to be at the right place in the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dudinha completed the trifecta for San Diego by forcing an own goal in the 65th minute. She delivered a strong cross that ricocheted off Denver defender Carson Pickett straight into the net.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it shows a lot. I think it shows that we\u2019re willing to be gritty,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cIf things aren\u2019t necessarily going our way, we know we have the potential, the talent and the work ethic to turn it around. So, it\u2019s exciting going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>San Diego now pivots to facing the No. 2-ranked Portland Thorns on Wednesday for the NWSL\u2019s next round of midweek matches. But first, Portland (3-1-1) faces a strong Angel City FC side (3-1-0) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the Wave signed USWNT standout and former Chelsea star Cat Macario.<\/p>\n<p>She has yet to feature for the Wave and was ruled out for Saturday\u2019s match because of a heel injury. It\u2019s unclear when the San Diego native will make her long-awaited debut in the league, but it\u2019s only likely to strengthen an already-strong contender for the 2026 NWSL crown.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Wave enjoyed a comeback win in Denver on Saturday night to maintain their spot atop&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[8858,74,76,75,12901],"class_list":{"0":"post-286965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-nwsl","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news","12":"tag-san-diego-wave"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}