SALT LAKE CITY (March 22, 2026) – San Diego Wave FC defeated the Utah Royals 2-1 at America First Field on Sunday night in the Club’s first road match of the 2026 NWSL season. Goals from Dudinha and Lia Godfrey secured the Wave’s first win of the season.
San Diego opened the scoring in the 18th minute after applying pressure to Utah’s backline. Ludmila forced a mistake on a pass across the backline that Dudinha read perfectly, stepping in to intercept before finishing to give the Wave their first goal of 2026.
Utah leveled the match in the 67th minute when a ball from Kameron Simmonds was played toward the back post where Cloé Lacasse volleyed it back into the box. Lara Prašnika took a shot towards the frame that deflected off a San Diego defender and into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
The Wave found the game-winner late in the match in the 87th minute. Kimmi Ascanio dribbled through the middle of the field and laid the ball off to Kenza Dali, who played a first-time through ball into the path of rookie Lia Godfrey. The second-half substitute took a touch and calmly slotted the ball into the corner to secure the 2-1 victory.
Next on the schedule: The Wave return to San Diego for two matches in a span of four days at Snapdragon Stadium. On Wednesday, March 25, Wave FC will host Portland Thorns FC for its match that kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network. San Diego will then face Chicago Stars FC on Saturday, March 28 at 5:45 p.m. PT with the game being broadcast live on ION. Tickets for both matches can be purchased here.
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Notes:
- In her second professional appearance, rookie Lia Godfrey scored her first goal of her career. The goal marked the first rookie in 2026 to earn a game-winning goal.
- Brazilian forward Dudinha tallied for the first time and the Club’s first goal of the 2026 season. In her first season with San Diego in 2025, the Brazilian forward scored five goals.
- Goalkeeper Leah Freeman made her NWSL and professional debut in tonight’s match.
Box Score:
Utah Royals 1:2 San Diego Wave FC
Scoring Summary:
SD – Dudinha (1) 18’
UTA – Prašnikar (1) (Palacios 1) 67’
SD – Godfrey (1) (Dali, 1) 87’
Misconduct Summary:
UTA – Nagai (Caution) 12’
UTA – Prašnikar (Caution) 17’
SD – Morroni (Caution) 55’
UTA – Milazzo (Caution) 72’
UTA – Spaanstra (Caution) 73’
UTA – Milazzo (Red Card) 82’
San Diego Wave FC: GK Freeman, D Morroni, D McNabb, D Wesley ©, D Van Zanten (Pickett 70’), M Dali, M Corley (Godfrey 60’), M Fazer, F Dudinha, F Ludmila, F Portilho (Ascanio 60’)
Subs not used: GK Agudelo, D Harrison, D Arias, M Fusco, F Barcenas
Utah Royals: GK Justus, D Milazzo, D Del Fava, D Riehl, D Thomsen (Simmonds 59’), D Tejada (Brown 59’), M Nagai (Pierre Louis HT), F Delzer, F Lacasse (Mozingo 71’), F Palacios, F Prašnikar (Spaanstra 71’)
Subs not used: GK Jackson, F Eichenberger
Stats Summary: UTA / SD
Shots: 7/15
Shots on Target: 3/6
Saves: 4/2
Corners: 4/6
Fouls: 15/6
Offsides: 0/4
Possession: 53%/47%
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sandiegowavefc.com ’
