The San Diego Wave continued their incredible expansion campaign on Saturday as they smashed the all-time NWSL attendance record in a 1-0 win over Angel City FC.
A record crowd of 32,000 witnessed the first NWSL match at Snapdragon Stadium, the brand-new venue the Wave will share with the San Diego State football team.
The previous record for a standalone NWSL match was 25,218, which the Portland Thorns set in 2019 at their home stadium Providence Park.
“It feels incredible to win for our fans, and as someone who has been involved in this game for 30 years, I’ve waited for this moment,” Wave head coach Casey Stoney told the club’s website.
Stoney continued: “To be able to do this without another crest, like in England how we rely on Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool to gain big crowds, but this is San Diego Wave, eight months into existence and to pull a crowd like this, it just shows what San Diego is as a community, and we want to keep them coming back because the potential for this team and community to keep growing is huge.”
this ain’t a dream.
this is san diego. pic.twitter.com/RRNUvldtU6
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) September 18, 2022
The Wave’s expansion campaign has been hugely successful on the pitch as well, as Saturday’s win over their expansion rivals lifted them to first place in the NWSL table.
17-year-old rookie Jaedyn Shaw scored the game’s only goal, her third in as many NWSL appearances so far. Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan added a dramatic penalty save in the 74th minute to preserve the three points.
[lawrence-related id=7320,7369]