San Diego Wave FC 2022 Player Postmortem: Players who didn’t see field

San Diego Wave FC had a debut season for the ages. Literally, it was the best season to date in the NWSL for a pure expansion team, by a long shot, full of playoff runs, attendance records, awards galore and all the great memories along the way.

To help put a wrap on the 2022 season for Wave FC, we’ll be looking back at the season of all the players. To get us started, we have a brief word for everyone rostered in 2022 who did not make it onto the field this year for the club.

Melissa Lowder

The 3rd-string goalkeeper, Lowder (pictured, top) had the dirty work and none of the adoration that goes with it, like all 3rd stringers. The San Diego native got to come home, after serving as a rostered goalkeeper both for Utah Royals and the Chicago Red Stars previously. She’s also played beach soccer, including for the U.S. Women’s National Beach Team, so that could prove to be another avenue for her in the years to come, potentially. Obviously, with the vastly experienced Kailen Sheridan and Carly Telford ahead of her on the depth chart in San Diego, playing time was hard to come by, but the name of the game for a player in her spot is to train well and stay ready in case her number is ever called. In 2022, the latter never happened, but we’ll see what happens in the future.

Kayla Bruster

Bruster was Wave FC’s fifth selection in the 2022 NWSL College Draft, the defender being selected No. 40 overall out of the University of Georgia. The Atlanta native did deal with some injuries along the way in 2022, but it’s unclear why she ultimately didn’t make it onto the field. Given the vast expansion of the professional game for women in the United States in the next couple years, that should open up more opportunities for players like Bruster, and we’ll see what happens for her career moving forward.

Sydney Cummings

Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images for A-Leagues

Cummings was signed as a national team replacement player in July, and her official tenure with San Diego was short as a result, as that amounts to a temporary contract. The 23-year-old was originally drafted by Racing Louisville in the 2022 Draft out of Georgetown, but they did not ultimately sign her to a contract. Born and raised in New Jersey and a Guyanese international, the defender has since signed a full-fledged contract with Australian expansion team Western United for the A-League season, which will begin in about a week. Here’s hoping she can leverage that run into maybe another deal in the NWSL, if she wants it, something many an NCAA product has done over the years.

Sarah Sodoma

Sodoma served as a national team replacement player twice in 2022 for San Diego, but the 24-year-old forward did not manage to make her NWSL debut this year. She was well known to the club, however, the Arkansas State product trialing with Wave FC in preseason before getting brief official stints with the club in April and in the summer. It’s unclear what’s next for her, but like the other players here, you never know what might be next in the journey for a player in this spot, sometimes they just need that one chance and that will make all the difference.

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