After 13 minutes that felt as if an hour had passed while also feeling fleeting at the same time, Alex Morgan stopped in the middle of the field, took off her soccer boots, took off her shin guards, and for the first time in years truly allowed a well of emotions loose in her final moments as a professional soccer player. The lead up was a swirl of emotions including a tribute video, special opening ceremony, a missed penalty, a goal, and finally an eruption of chants emanating from over 25,000 fans at a packed Snapdragon stadium on one of the hottest days of the year in San Diego.

On paper if you didn’t see the score, you’d be forgiven for believing that ACFC is making a serious turnaround in their season and were dominating Reign FC at home for the entire match. Then you look at the score, 2-3, and you realize that this team while doing all the right things and growing and evolving as they progress through the season continue to struggle to make their entry into the playoff contention.

In a social media post that sent shockwaves around the world of women’s sport, Alex Morgan officially announced her retirement from professional women’s soccer as of her final match with San Diego Wave F.C. taking place on September 8th against the North Carolina Courage. Alex Morgan, cited her pregnancy as one of the many factors in her decision, but also mentioning having made peace with the decision as early as the beginning of the 2024 season.

In a match that seemed to be a repeat of the continued woes for the San Diego Wave there were positive moments of unity that point to upside as they try to work their way into a heavily contended playoff position. With both goals coming from Kristen McNabb, one on an own goal and the other coming from a corner kick scrum off of a Maria Sanchez delivery that put the Wave even with time left for either team to decide the game.

Fluid offense, timely threes, big defensive stops, and an off shooting night for Sabrina Ionescu. An ideal recipe for an upset in a homestand that has seen a series of disappointing losses for the Sparks looking to find rhythm as they try to build a foundation for next season.

In Landon Donovan’s first official outing as head coach of San Diego Wave FC during the NWSL season it was a mix of lineups and lapses that characterized an impressive ACFC win over a Wave team that continues to struggle to find its identity.

In straight sets against team USA coming off a successful tournament for the program, Italy reminded the world why they are the number one seed. Defeating USA, Turkey, and overall dropping only a single set in the entire tournament Italy’s run at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has been remarkably dominant. Team USA never was able to make a sure footing in the match as Italy’s defensive system rendered the hitting of Annie Drews, Jordan Thompson, and others inert with digs and blocks that were some of the most spectacular of the tournament.

In the first three set gold medal beach volleyball at the Olympics it was clear why the number one seeded Brazil would be up to the task to snap a podium drought for beach volleyball for the first time since the 1996 Olympic games. In a match that lived up to the promise, Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes made an incredible second set comeback after a grueling first set setting the stage for a deciding third.

The road to the semifinals for Brandie and Melissa has been one filled with emotional swings as they had to battle their way through loss in the qualifying stage finding themselves on the brink of elimination in the lucky loser bracket. Few some them as favorites at that point in the tournament, and against all odds they have shown their resilience and poise defeating Kristin Nuss and Taryn Kloth in the round of 16, and now a favored Spanish side that stood in their way to a potential podium spot.

In a match that can only be summarized as a game of margins it was all team Switzerland as after an incredible first set turnaround they pushed back a team USA run at the 15 point mark making their own push to win the set.