(Photo credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images)
Lia Godfrey scored her first professional goal at the perfect time to lift the San Diego Wave past the 10-woman Utah Royals 2-1 on Sunday in Sandy, Utah.
Godfrey's fellow sub, Kimmi Ascanio, tapped a pass to Kenza Dali, and Dali's one-timed through ball found Godfrey, who deposited it in the bottom left corner of the net in the 87th minute.
The Wave (1-1-0, 3 points) hung on from there for their first win of 2026.
Five minutes earlier, Utah defender Tatumn Milazzo was shown a second yellow card for a rough foul, and the Royals were down a player the rest of the way.
They had tied the game on Lara Prasnikar's first career goal in the 67th minute. Mia Justus made four saves for the Royals (0-2-0, 0 points).
Dudinha opened the scoring, and Leah Freeman had two saves for San Diego.
The Wave struck in the 18th minute when Utah's Kate Del Fava made an ill-advised pass in her defensive third. Dudinha sprinted in front of Del Fava's target and one-timed her shot into an empty net with Justus out of position.
Utah tied it when a Wave defender tried to clear the ball from the box but accidentally chipped it in front of Prasnikar, who hit a low dribbler to the far corner out of Freeman's diving reach.
Per the Royals, it marked the first goal scored by a native of Slovenia in NWSL history.
--Field Level Media
