**San Diego, California** – San Diego Wave FC rang in its first-ever regular season home match at Torero Stadium by producing a resounding 4-0 win over Gotham FC thanks in large part to a four-goal standout showing from forward Alex Morgan that saw her bury twice from the penalty spot in the victory.
It was a relatively tame opening half outside of a couple of opportunities for each side in the opening few minutes. In the 19 ^th minute, though, San Diego’s buildup play continued, and the hosts had a good look on goal via a cross from out wide. The Wave began asking questions via a pair of chances for the likes of Jodie Taylor and Taylor Kornieck, but a ball out wide from Tegan McGrady attempted to find the head of Emily van Egmond at the back post though Egmond was unable to keep her effort down and on target.
Just before the half-hour mark, the visitors Gotham created a pair of chances as they sought to open the scoring, but after a recovery deep in San Diego territory in the 26 ^th minute, they were unable to work the ball into the box to test the hosts’ goal. Three minutes later, Gotham again threatened as forward Ifeoma Onumonu beat a defender in the middle of the park before playing teammate Margaret Purce out wide. Looking to gain composure inside the penalty area, Purce was unable to pick out her teammate with a return ball though and her cross landed straight into the grateful arms of Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
Back-to-back opportunities for San Diego came first the way of Kornieck in the 38 ^th minute, who had her right-footed shot blocked from the center of the area, though that led to another corner for the hosts. Following the set piece chance, McGrady also saw her right-footed shot cleared off the goal line to keep the score level.
A turning point did come though, and just before the announced stoppage time, San Diego hit the crossbar off McGrady’s cross from the corner which saw a Wave player head toward goal and the ball strike a Gotham player and ricochet off the bar. However, after the clearance, the center official pointed to the penalty spot as the ball was judged to have struck the arm of a Gotham player.
Following the decision, forward Alex Morgan stepped up to the spot to face Gotham FC goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, and despite a bit of attempted distraction by Harris, Morgan ripped her spot kick straight down the center and in to score.
At the break, San Diego led just 1-0 but held a 17-2 shots advantage that included a 5-1 margin in shots on target.
Into the second half, San Diego looked more likely to score than concede and got another look on goal in the 50 ^th minute through van Egmond. An aerial through ball released Kornieck on the right flank. Taking a touch to settle the ball, Kornieck cut a pass back for van Egmond near the top of the box, but her effort ended up high over the bar.
Gotham then created a glimpse after Kristie Mewis won a free kick in the Gotham half, but the deep delivery toward the back post is met by defender Ali Krieger but is unable to be directed on goal.
After the hour mark, San Diego began to put its stamp on the match. Not two minutes after being subbed on, forward Amirah Ali in her first forward run was played ahead on the right flank and, after dancing in and out past a pair of defenders, Ali was judged to have been fouled in the penalty area by Gotham’s McCall Zerboni to result in the hosts’ second penalty. Now up for the second time from 12 yards out, Morgan pushed her left-footed penalty to the right side of the goal as San Diego doubled its lead.
Then, four minutes after Morgan buried the penalty to go two-up, Morgan added San Diego’s third to earn her hat trick as the hosts worked the ball well into the area only for Zerboni to intercept a cross at the near post. However, Morgan then proceeded to pounce on Zerboni and win the ball back just a few yards out from goal and she made no mistake in beating Harris for a third on the night.
Finally, in the first minute of stoppage time, Morgan came back for her fourth goal of the night as she was played in down the left center of goal and did very well to produce a composed finish past Harris. Her four goals simultaneously sent her to the top of the scoring charts and made her just the third player to score four goals in a game.
In the end, the Wave produced back-to-back wins after a 4-0 thumping of Gotham at Torero Stadium in the club’s first ever regular season home match in San Diego.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights