SAN DIEGO — Back when the San Diego Wave were deep into a victory drought that would exceed four months, I wrote they’d eke out a playoff berth.

My prediction stands now as a shanked shot.

Saturday’s 4-1 road loss to the Kansas City Current dropped the Wave to 5-13-7 this season and ensured San Diego won’t be the subpar team that gets the eighth and final playoff spot in the 14-team National Women’s Soccer League.

In the end, the NWSL’s expanded playoff format wasn’t enough to rescue the Wave, nor could they be saved by a softening schedule or numerous whiffs by fellow stragglers.

The bottom line was this: No professional team that wins only one of every five matches, as the ’24 Wave have, deserves a playoff berth.

Too impatient?

In January, Wave president Jill Ellis extended coach Casey Stoney’s contract through 2027.

In June, with the team just one point from eighth place and 12 games remaining, Ellis fired Stoney.

Ellis, who won two World Cups as the U.S. coach, said she wanted a style built on attacking.

She got it.

The Wave attacked more under interim coaches Paul Buckle (0 wins, 2 losses) and Landon Donovan (2 wins, 6 losses, 1 tie and counting).

What Ellis didn’t get was better results. The defense went from good to bad. Its 21 goals allowed in 11 matches doubled the rate under Stoney (3 wins, 5 losses, 6 ties).

The offense remained subpar despite being more interesting.

In fact, the scoring pace was a fraction worse than under Stoney.

The post-Stoney Wave gathered just seven points in 11 matches. It kept them out of the postseason.

The dry patch that got Stoney fired resembled one she survived last season. Last year, the Wave rallied to win the NWSL’s regular-season title. This time, the rally never came.

Humbling industry

Alex Morgan had her own stunning plummet.

Just 15 months ago, Morgan entered the World Cup as FIFA’s second-ranked player.

Then she flubbed a penalty kick. Then, following the next match, former teammate Carli Lloyd called for Morgan’s benching. Then the United States’ offense flopped, leading to the fastest U.S. exit from a World Cup.

Morgan revived after rejoining the Wave for last year’s playoff run. But a poor night from the whole offense led to a 1-0 playoff defeat in the NWSL semifinals. This year Morgan, 35, was left off the U.S. roster that would win Olympic gold. She didn’t score in her 13 regular-season matches and retired in September following an announcement that she was expecting her second child.

Two touted veteran arrivals to the Wave this year, Savannah McCaskill and María Sánchez, have yet to score in NWSL play this season. The club will finish Nov. 3 with a home match against Racing Louisville.

But what’s happened outside the Wave has most stood out. At the league’s higher levels, the quality jumped.

From Africa came star strikers who lifted Kansas City and Orlando. Stoney didn’t have a striker comparable to Kansas City’s Temwa Chawinga of Malawi, whose league-record 20th goal came Saturday; or Orlando’s Barbra Banda, a Zambian with 13 goals and six assists in 18 starts.

The Wave’s top highlight was the signing of France’s Delphine Cascarino, who arrived five weeks after Stoney’s dismissal. Cascarino, 27, showed the best ball skills of a Wave striker since the club’s inception. In the 89th minute Saturday, she roofed a 28-yard shot.

It’d be nice for Wave fans if plays like Cascarino’s become less rare in 2025.

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