Waves top Gotham 2-1 as NWSL returns to action

Makenzy Doniak scored early in the first half, Amirah Ali scored late in the second and the San Diego Waves ended a five-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey/New York Gotham as the National Women’s Soccer League returned to action on Saturday in San Diego after a one-month sabbatical.

Doniak staked San Diego (7-6-3) to a 1-0 lead 17 minutes into the match, using a crossing pass from Jaedyn Shaw to score her third goal of the season. Ali subbed in in the 84th minute and scored in the 85th, taking a through ball from Melanie Barcenas to score her second goal of the campaign for a 2-0 lead.

Shea Yáñez finished with three saves for San Diego.

Abby Smith saved one shot for Gotham (7-5-4) before leaving due to an injury in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time. Gotham avoided a shutout on a goal by Katie Stengel in the 12th minute of extra time. Ifeoma Onumonu assisted on Stengel’s second netter of the season.

San Diego, an expansion team last season, improves to 4-0-0 against Gotham. The Waves have outscored Gotham 10-1 and just missed becoming the fourth team in league history to post four straight shutout wins over the same opponent. The Waves’ last victory was a 1-0 win over NJ/NY on June 4.

Midge Purce, who became the first Gotham player to notch assists in three straight matches coming in, left due to an injury in the 25th minute.

The start of the match was moved ahead two hours to avoid weather conditions from Hurricane Hilary.

RACING LOUISVILLE 1, ANGEL CITY 1

Kirsten Davis came off the bench and scored unassisted in the 79th minute to rally Racing Louisville to a draw with Angel City in Louisville, Ky.

Davis found the net for the third time this season for Racing Louisville (4-4-8), sending a header into the right corner after subbing in in the 70th minute. Katie Lund finished with five saves to preserve the tie. Lund is the only player in the league to have played every minute of her team’s matches this season.

Neither team scored until Angel City (4-6-6) took the lead in the 67th minute when Katie Johnson took a pass from Savannah McCaskill and right-footed a shot into the top right corner. Johnson subbed in in the 62nd minute, scoring for a third time this season.

DiDi Haračić saved two shots for Angel City. The second-year club extended its unbeaten streak in all competitions to eight (4-0-4).

DASH 1, SPIRIT 1

María Sánchez scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to rally Houston to a draw with Washington in Houston.

Sánchez found the net for a fourth time this season, using an assist from Ebony Salmon to bury a left-footed shot in the bottom right corner. Houston (4-5-7) is 4-1-3 this season when Sánchez has a hand in a goal.

Washington (6-3-7) took a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute on Ashley Sanchez’s fifth goal this season. Sanchez took a pass from Ouleymata Sarr and buried a left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net.

The Dash are winless in their last six matches (0-2-4). Houston’s longest stretch without a victory was seven straight in 2019. The Dash are 3-0-4 in their last seven home matches with Washington. It’s their longest unbeaten run at home against a single opponent.

The Spirit have the fewest losses in the league but have gone 0-2-2 in their last four contests.

___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer