Alex Morgan Still Scoreless, but San Diego Wins in Landon Donovan's Debut

Former Cal star Morgan still looking for her first goal of the year for the Wave, but she played pretty well

San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan / Julia Kapros-USA TODAY Sports

Alex Morgan played the first 75 minutes of the San Diego Wave’s 2-0 victory over Santa Fe FC Tuesday night in Panama City, but the former Cal star again failed to score a goal.

It was a dominant performance by the Wave in its opening match of group play in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, and it produced a comfortable win for Landon Donovan in his first game as San Diego’s interim head coach.

However, Morgan remains scoreless for the Wave this year.

A few scoring opportunities materialized for Morgan, who played pretty well overall, but she never got a clear shot at a goal.    The 35-year-old Morgan has now played 14 games for the Wave this year and has not scored any goals.  In 2022, she scored 15 goals for San Diego in 17 National Women’s Soccer League games, and she had seven goals for the Waves in league play last year.

Tuesday’s game was not an NWSL match, however. This contest was part of a 10-team tournament that will be played over a long period of time.  San Diego got off to a good start by getting a victory in its opener in its five-team group.  The Wave’s next game of the Champions Cup will be September 18 against the Portland Thorns.

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals to be played next May, and it will be interesting to see if Morgan is still a member of the Wave then.

The 2024 season has been challenging for Morgan.

Morgan missed a month of action after suffering an ankle injury in mid-April, and she was not selected to the roster of the U.S. Olympic team, a choice that surprised some people.

She was the captain for the Wave in Tuesday’s game against Santa Fe, which is based in Panama City.

Olympians Jaedyn Shaw and Girma Naomi did not make the trip to Central America with their San Diego teammates, but it didn’t matter.

Maria Sanchez scored for San Diego in the second minute of the game, and Kristen McNabb added the second goal midway through the second half.

Morgan started the game and was replaced in the 76th minute.

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