SD Wave, winners of 6 of last 7, welcome Utah Royals to Snapdragon to open NWSL playoffs

San Diego Wave FC, the NWSL’s second seed, will face the seventh-seeded Utah Royals at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

The club clinched the second seed in its 1-0 victory on Sunday over Bay FC at PayPal Park thanks to an ninth-minute goal from defender Mimi Van Zanten.

Despite the Wave missing out on the top spot and its second Supporters’ Shield in club history – Gotham FC defeated Utah that same afternoon to take the honor – the team still will host the semifinal round, provided it can get by the Royals.

The two sides met twice during the regular season with San Diego coming out with a 2-1 win on March 22 at America First Field, followed by a 4-2 victory on Aug. 21 at Snapdragon Stadium, thanks to a brace by forward Trinity Byars.

“We’ve seen what works for us, but also what challenges we had in those games,” said SD Wave head coach Jonas Eidevall. “Now comes the work for us to prepare the team for Friday. It’s like a real final when you go to playoffs with exciting games.”

Utah comes in to the quarterfinal winless in its last four games, the last three of them in shutouts. San Diego, on the other hand, comes in as the hottest team in the league, undefeated in its last seven, including six victories.

The last time SD Wave tasted defeat was on Sept. 6, when the Seattle Reign won 1-0 at Lumen Field. The team has historically dominated San Diego with a record of 11-3-1, but will the Wave gets to avoid them since the Reign finished as the eight-seed with a worse goal differential than the Royals.

“Of course we wanted to finish as high up in the table as possible, but it’s also the way we do things,” Eidevall added. “It’s the mentality and performances that we build at home that really makes Snapdragon our fortress.”

The Wave finished with a home record of 8-5-2, with its last Snapdragon defeat coming at the hands of the Reign on July 26 by a score of 2-0. SD Wave is undefeated at Snapdragon in its last six games with four wins and two draws, while outscoring its opponents 14-8 during that span.

“I think Utah has done a great job this season making the playoffs, so it’s going to be a difficult game,” said SD Wave midfielder Kenza Dali. “It’s up to us at home to make them run and play our game. We are going to do everything to get the result.”

If the Wave advance, it will host the winner of the sixth-seeded Portland Thorns versus the third-seeded Washington Spirit in the semifinal round. Portland eliminated San Diego in the 2022 semifinal 2-1 thanks to a dramatic stoppage-time goal by forward Crystal Dunn and in a 2025 quarterfinal, 1-0, thanks to a goal in the fourth minute of extra-time by forward Reilyn Turner.

The Wave faces Utah at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets remain available, starting at $29.