© David Frerker-Imagn Images
Last Friday’s match at Snapdragon Stadium between the San Diego Wave and Gotham FC was a classic meeting of two teams passing each other on opposite sides of the street. The Wave’s surprising start has blown up into a 1-3-4 stretch during which they have scored twice — both in the same match. Gotham’s win in the match was their third in a row, and their first since making the bold investment to acquire Jaedyn Shaw.
Shaw scored the backbreaking goal on Friday, highlighting both the impact she is capable of having on a club and the degree to which the Wave appear to be lost.
It started with a throw-in near midfield. This should never lead directly to a scoring chance. Something needs to go wrong on the other end for that to happen. Here, Esther González was the target of the throw, surrounded by multiple Wave players. Four of them have a direct line to Esther and a fifth is just behind another Gotham player. Shaw was just off the play as well, jogging toward the Wave goal.
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