San Diego Wave FC

2025 season
Owner	Arthur Levine Lauren Leichtman
President	Vacant
Head coach	Jonas Eidevall
Stadium	Snapdragon Stadium
Home colors Away colors
← 2024 2026 →

The 2025 San Diego Wave FC season will be the team's fourth season as a professional women's soccer team. Based in San Diego, California, United States, San Diego Wave FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

At the start of 2024, the Wave kicked off the season on a positive note, winning the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup 1–0 over 2023 champion NJ/NY Gotham FC.^[1] However, the Wave failed to replicate their successes from 2022 and 2023, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in club history and finishing in 10th place overall. The team was also knocked out during the group stages of both the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup.^[2][3] The Wave also underwent several coaching changes, firing Casey Stoney after a poor run of form^[4] and replacing her with interim coaches Paul Buckle and later, Landon Donovan.^[5][6]

2024 also featured a large amount of off-the-field changes. Ron Burkle sold the team to new owners Arthur Levine and Lauren Leichtman at a record-breaking fee of $113 million.^[7] Camille Levin Ashton came in as general manager, replacing former GM Molly Downtain.^[8] In December 2024, president Jill Ellis left her role at the Wave to join FIFA as chief football officer.^[9] Ellis and the club had previously been accused by former Wave employees of fostering an abusive workplace environment, a claim which Ellis had refuted.^[10][11] Five former employees later filed a lawsuit against the Wave and the NWSL, alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and retaliation.^[12][13]

The Wave announced multiple staff changes in early preseason. On November 18, the club revealed that interim coach Landon Donovan would not be returning to the club in 2025, leaving a vacancy in the head coach role.^[14][15] On November 3, the Wave announced another change, with club president Jill Ellis stepping down from her position in order to become FIFA Chief of Football.^[16][17]

On December 10, the Wave announced their first offseason move, trading longtime defender Christen Westphal to the Houston Dash in exchange for $14,000 of NWSL allocation money and a 2025 international roster spot.^[18] The same day, the club revealed its end-of-year roster decisions, listing Amirah Ali, Hillary Beall, Elyse Bennett, Kyra Carusa, Danielle Colaprico, and Morgan Messner as free agents. While the Wave opted to exercise its mutual option with Swedish defender Hanna Lundkvist, no comment was made in regards to forward Kyra Carusa's 2025 player option.^[19] The Wave later announced on social media that Ali, Bennett, Colaprico, and Messner would all be leaving the club and exploring other opportunities in NWSL free agency.^[20] The club continued to make offseason moves, signing UCLA defender Quincy McMahon on December 13^[21] and re-signing Hillary Beall on December 23.^[22] Three days into 2025, the Wave announced that the club had agreed on a mutual contract termination with midfielder Emily van Egmond.^[23]

New developments in the Wave's legal battle arrived on January 6, featuring a sixth former employee joining the set of plaintiffs suing the club. The employee alleged sexual harassment perpetrated by her then-supervisor.^[24][25] In other non-player news, the Wave announced the hiring of Swedish manager Jonas Eidevall as the club's head coach one day later.^[26] Eidevall had last managed Arsenal W.F.C. before resigning from his post in October 2024.^[27]

On January 13, the club signed Nigerian forward Chiamaka Okwuchukwu.^[28] The next day, the Wave honored a trade request by Jaedyn Shaw, sending her to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for $300,000 in allocation money, $150,000 in intra-league transfer funds, an international roster slot for the next two years, and additional fees pending conditions met.^[29][30] Another piece of news rolled on on January 15, with German midfielder Gia Corley joining the club on a two-year contract.^[31] The Wave's third incoming in a matter of days was announced on January 16, featuring the signing of North Carolina Tar Heels defender Trinity Armstrong to a multi-year deal.^[32] The Wave then announced the signings of Sintia Cabezas, Favour Emmanuel, and DiDi Haračić, all on January 20.^[33][34][35] Cabezas was immediately loaned out to USL Super League team Lexington SC for the duration of the season.^[33] On January 21, the Wave's preseason roster was released. While no non-roster invitees were included, the announcement did note the activation of Kyra Carusa's contract option.^[36] The club signed French midfielder Kenza Dali to a two-year contract on January 24.^[37] On January 26, the club announced the transfer of Naomi Girma to Chelsea for a world-record fee.^[38] Girma's departure had been rumored by various outlets in the days and weeks leading up to the completion of the deal.^[39]

The Wave played their first preseason match of the year on February 10, a 3–2 victory against the Utah Royals in Chula Vista.^[40][41] The team then travelled to the Coachella Valley Invitational, where they played to a 0–0 draw with the Houston Dash^[42] and later earned a 1–0 win over Bay FC.^[43] During the Coachella Valley Invitational, the team also loaned out Canadian forward Mya Jones to AFC Toronto.^[44]

On February 24, the club signed Adriana Leon from Aston Villa to a two-year contract.^[45] On March 5, Kaitlyn Torpey was traded to Portland Thorns FC in exchange for $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds, although the currency could change to $15,000 in allocation money pending conditions met.^[46]

As of March 5, 2025^[47][48]

No.	Nat.	Name	Date of birth (age)	Since	Previous team	Notes[a]
Goalkeepers
1		Kailen Sheridan (captain)	(1995-07-16)July 16, 1995 (aged 29)	2022	NJ/NY Gotham FC	–
22		Hillary Beall	(1999-01-27)January 27, 1999 (aged 26)	2024	Western United	–
31		DiDi Haračić	(1992-04-12)April 12, 1992 (aged 32)	2025	Angel City FC	–
Defenders
3		Trinity Armstrong	(2007-07-25)July 25, 2007 (aged 17)	2025	North Carolina Tar Heels	–
6		Hanna Lundkvist	(2002-07-17)July 17, 2002 (aged 22)	2024	Atlético Madrid	INT
12		Kennedy Wesley	(2001-03-08)March 8, 2001 (aged 24)	2024	Stanford Cardinal	–
14		Kristen McNabb	(1994-04-17)April 17, 1994 (aged 30)	2022	OL Reign	–
34		Quincy McMahon	(2002-09-26)September 26, 2002 (aged 22)	2025	UCLA Bruins	–
75		Perle Morroni	(1997-10-15)October 15, 1997 (aged 27)	2024	Lyon	INT
Midfielders
10		Kenza Dali	(1991-07-31)July 31, 1991 (aged 33)	2025	Aston Villa	INT
11		Gia Corley	(2002-05-20)May 20, 2002 (aged 22)	2025	TSG Hoffenheim	–
17		Kimmi Ascanio	(2008-01-21)January 21, 2008 (aged 17)	2024	Florida United	U18
21		Savannah McCaskill	(1996-07-31)July 31, 1996 (aged 28)	2024	Angel City FC	–
24		Favour Emmanuel	(2002-09-07)September 7, 2002 (aged 22)	2025	Lokomotiv Moscow	INT
25		Melanie Barcenas	(2007-10-30)October 30, 2007 (aged 17)	2023	San Diego Surf SC	U18
Forwards
5		Trinity Byars	(2003-01-29)January 29, 2003 (aged 22)	2024	Texas Longhorns	–
7		María Sánchez	(1996-02-20)February 20, 1996 (aged 29)	2024	Houston Dash	–
8		Chiamaka Okwuchukwu	(2005-08-07)August 7, 2005 (aged 19)	2025	Rivers Angels F.C.	INT
9		Adriana Leon	(1992-10-02)October 2, 1992 (aged 32)	2025	Aston Villa	INT
15		Makenzy Robbe	(1994-02-05)February 5, 1994 (aged 31)	2022	Chicago Red Stars	–
19		Kyra Carusa	(1995-11-14)November 14, 1995 (aged 29)	2023	London City Lionesses	–
20		Delphine Cascarino	(1997-02-05)February 5, 1997 (aged 28)	2024	Lyon	INT

No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
18	FW	Mya Jones (loaned to AFC Toronto)	Canada
—	DF	Sintia Cabezas (loaned to Lexington SC)	Colombia

As of January 7, 2025

Position	Staff
Head coach	Jonas Eidevall
Development Coach	Jackie Bachteler
Assistant Coach/Head of Goalkeeping	Louis Hunt
Assistant Coach	Craig Barclay
Director of Recruitment and Analytics	Chris Loxton

  Win   Draw   Loss

As of

For incoming transfers, dates listed are when San Diego Wave FC officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For outgoing transfers, dates listed are when San Diego Wave FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another team. If a player later signed with another team, their new team will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when she was officially removed from the San Diego Wave FC roster.

Contract options

Date	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
December 10, 2024	Hanna Lundkvist	DF	Mutual option exercised.	[19]
January 21, 2025	Kyra Carusa	FW	Player option exercised.	[36]

Re-signings

Date	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
October 24, 2024	Kristen McNabb	DF	Re-signed to a two-year contract through 2026.	[49]
December 23, 2024	Hillary Beall	GK	Re-signed to a one-year contract through 2025.	[22]

Date	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
January 20, 2025	Sintia Cabezas	DF	Lexington SC	Loaned through the 2025 NWSL season.	[33]
February 17, 2025	Mya Jones	FW	AFC Toronto	Loaned through the 2025 NWSL season.	[44]

Date	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 13, 2024	Quincy McMahon	DF	UCLA Bruins	Free agent rookie signed to a three-year contract through 2027.	[50]
January 13, 2025	Chiamaka Okwuchukwu	FW	Rivers Angels F.C.	Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a one-year contract through 2025.	[28]
January 15, 2025	Gia Corley	MF	TSG Hoffenheim	Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a two-year contract through 2026.	[31]
January 16, 2025	Trinity Armstrong	DF	North Carolina Tar Heels	Free agent rookie signed to a three-year contract through 2027.	[32]
January 20, 2025	Sintia Cabezas	DF	América de Cali	Signed to a two-year contract through 2026.	[33]
	Favour Emmanuel	MF	Lokomotiv Moscow	Signed to a two-year contract through 2026 with a mutual option.	[34]
	DiDi Haračić	GK	Angel City FC	Free agent signed to a one-year contract through 2025.	[35]
January 24, 2025	Kenza Dali	MF	Aston Villa	Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a two-year contract through 2026.	[37]
February 24, 2025	Adriana Leon	FW	Aston Villa	Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a two-year contract through 2026 with a mutual option.	[45]

Date	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 10, 2024	Christen Westphal	DF	Houston Dash	Traded in exchange for a 2025 international roster slot and $14,000 in allocation money, plus performance-based incentives.	[18]
	Amirah Ali	FW	Valencia CF	Out of contract.	[19][51]
	Elyse Bennett	FW	Deportivo de La Coruña		[19][52]
	Danielle Colaprico	MF	Houston Dash		[19][53]
	Morgan Messner	GK	Portland Thorns FC		[19]
January 3, 2025	Emily van Egmond	MF	Birmingham City	Mutual contract termination.	[23][54]
January 14, 2025	Jaedyn Shaw	FW	North Carolina Courage	Traded in exchange for $300,000 in allocation money, $150,000 in intra-league transfer funds, an international roster slot for 2025 and 2026, and additional funds pending conditions met.	[29]
January 26, 2025	Naomi Girma	DF	Chelsea	Transferred in exchange for a world record fee of $1.1 million.	[38][55]
March 5, 2025	Kaitlyn Torpey	DF	Portland Thorns FC	Traded in exchange for either $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds or $15,000 in allocation money, pending conditions met.	[46]

Trialists are non-rostered invitees during preseason and are not automatically signed. The Wave's preseason roster, which was released on January 21, 2025, initially did not list any non-rostered invitees.^[36] However, on January 30, former college players Jordan Fusco and Caroline Kelly were announced as trialists.^[56][57] Additionally, during the Coachella Valley Invitational, preseason trialists Pearl Cecil and Nya Harrison competed for the Wave.^[58][59]

Player	Pos.	Previous club	Status	Ref.
Pearl Cecil	DF	San Diego Surf SC	Not signed.	[59]
Jordan Fusco	MF	Penn State Nittany Lions	Not signed.	[56]
Nya Harrison	DF	Stanford Cardinal	Not signed.	[58]
Caroline Kelly	FW	TCU Horned Frogs	Not signed.	[57]