Over the winter, San Diego Wave FC parted ways with seven players as it retooled its roster.
On Saturday night, one of those players got a measure of revenge as she scored the winning goal against San Diego during the team’s season opener at Snapdragon Stadium.
Houston Dash forward Makenzy Robbe, who was with Wave FC from 2022-25 and signed with the Dash in January, found the back of the net during first half stoppage time via a right-footed shot to give her new team the lead and eventual win.
The final score was 1-0 in a match where San Diego controlled the ball for most of the time, but just couldn’t score despite plenty of opportunities throughout the game.
“There were a lot of good moments, but there are areas where we need to improve,” as well, team co-captain Kennedy Wesley said during the post-match press conference. “I think that we as a collective need to be more organized.”
“Obviously we didn’t see all the pieces come together tonight, but we have all the pieces we need,” she added, referencing the team’s new player additions of the past few months. “We’re in a good spot.”
Co-captain Kenza Dali said that it’s just one game in a long season, and that Saturday night’s outcome shouldn’t be considered indicative of the season ahead because the team is still integrating players that have been added over just the past couple of months.
Following the loss, head coach Jonas Eidevall said his message to the team was they can’t think about the past too much; they have to think about the future.
“The next game is always the most important game,” he said. “And it’s a long season. We have to be ready to go again, and again and again. That’s the mentality.”
Regarding the team’s performance against Houston, Eidevall said that he saw some deficiencies that need to be corrected and will be as the team spends more time practicing and playing together.
“One thing we have to improve upon … is how we work together as a unit. What’s really important for them is to get time to play,” he said.
“I think we could have been more aggressive,” he added. “You have to be very diligent in the way you’re playing.”
Up next, the Wave (0-0-1) hits the road for the first time this season and travels to play the Utah Royals (0-0-1) on March 22.
The Royals, who finished 12th in the then-14 NWSL teams last year with a 6-7-13 record, lost to San Diego twice last season. They also lost their opening match of this season, 2-1 Saturday against the Kansas City Current.
Notes
Saturday’s match featured a rare instance to two siblings competing in the same NWSL match on opposing teams: San Diego defender Mimi Van Zanten and her sister, midfielder Kiki Van Zanten both played in Saturday’s match.
MiMi Van Zanten, one of the seven aforementioned new players on the San Diego roster for the 2026 season, started for Wave FC. Her sister, however, came off the bench for Houston late in the second half, and the two never played at the same time during the match.
The first and only time to date siblings have actually played against one another in a regular NWSL game was when sisters Kristie Mewis and Sam Mewis faced each other in 2019.
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