However things turn out Friday night for the San Diego Wave’s franchise-best offense, it will be one of the young season’s more revealing 90 minutes of soccer.
The opponent is why.
The Seattle Reign excel at defense, year after year. It’s a specialty of coach Laura Harvey, who leads the National Women’s Soccer League in career wins and will bring another good defense into Snapdragon Stadium.
Harvey’s sound, physical teams have drained the fizz out of many Wave matches. Worst among San Diego’s duds was a 1-0 homefield loss to Harvey’s club in the 2023 playoff semifinals. The Wave’s performance, as drab as Seattle winters, denied Alex Morgan and teammates a spot in the NWSL final.
On the other hand — or is it foot? — this Wave offense appears to be the best in franchise history.
Thanks to the franchise’s massive makeover, the 2025 Wave are 6-2-2 and, importantly, fun to watch and hard to defend.
They’ve scored 16 goals in the past six matches — five wins and a tie.
“I’m really proud of this team so far,” said general manager Camille Ashton.
Though 16 matches remain, the Wave should land one of the eight playoff berths, which means winning the NWSL’s top trophy this year has already become less of longshot.
Ashton brings intriguing credentials to that pursuit.
At Stanford, the versatile, 5-foot-3 defender captained the program’s first national championship team and set up the winning goal in the title match, persisting through two tackles and a block.
Following her seven-year run as a professional player in the NWSL, three European leagues and Australia and a 28-month stretch with World Wrestling Entertainment management that broadened her networking and organizational skills, she became general manager of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current.
The first of three K.C. clubs she helped to assemble reached the NWSL final, losing to Portland.
Improving the third of those K.C. clubs, Ashton signed former U.S. Women’s National Team coach Vlatko Antonovski and African striker Temwa Chawinga.
Chawinga lit up the league, scoring an NWSL-record 20 goals and winning MVP honors. The Current reached the semifinals and lost to Orlando, the eventual champion.
Soon after Ashton became the Wave’s general manager last June 12 — two weeks before then-team president Jill Ellis fired coach Casey Stoney —the NWSL’s summer g window opened.
Ashton signed Delphine Cascarino and Perle Morroni, French players who’ve sparkled this year.
In the offseason, Ashton brought in several more players. Many are standouts, including 17-year-old center back Trinity Armstrong.
But it’s former Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall, hired in January, who may be Ashton’s most far-reaching addition to this team. Ashton said she and the coach share a soccer vision.
“We want to be a team that’s exciting to watch and that possesses the ball and has an entertaining way ,” she said. “We want fans to watch and enjoy the way that we’re playing. For us, stylewise, that’s possession-oriented but with progression.
“And similarly, when we defend, when we press, we want to press with intensity and win the ball back and really control the game even when we don’t have the ball. For us, it’s about controlling the game with and without the ball.”
Following the Wave’s three games this month, Ashton will again be allowed to add players to the roster. The NWSL’s Secondary Transfer/Trade Window opens July 1.
Ashton has had so much success on the international player market since January 2024, beginning with the franchise-changing addition of Malawi’s Chawinga for K.C., but also including Wave standouts Kenza Dali of , Gia Corley of and Adriana Leon of Canada, that she would seem likely to go there once again.
This time, she’ll have to take into this team’s impressive growth and chemistry.
“We have a really, really great group right now,” the GM said. “So, it’s really important to be very selective, if you will, with any changes we’re going to make right now … We’ll make a decision that we feel is best, not only for the second half of this season, but for next year and for the future as well.”
On the home front, the course of action is set, as she’ll soon be making one key addition — her second child with her husband, Michael.
“I’m about 12 days out from welcoming my second little boy,” reported Ashton, who said “being a mom is one of the greatest gifts of my life.”
“Life is busy, but I don’t think I’d have it any other way,” she said. “I love being a mom and I love being in the position that I am with the Wave and being able to help build this club and work with the people that I work with every day. I feel truly lucky that I get to do both.”
