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San Diego Wave FC picked up their first franchise win Saturday with a 4-2 victory over California rival Angel City FC. Jodie Taylor and Amirah Ali scored goals and USWNT forward Alex Morgan recorded a double for the Wave. San Diego are officially halfway through their first NWSL Challenge Cup tournament, and are keeping things tight the West Region as the tournament prepares to break for the upcoming international window. Fans can watch all NWSL Challenge Cup matches on Paramount+ live or on demand.

San Diego hosted the match at Torero Stadium and 5,158 fans provided the soundtrack for the historic win. Taylor, an English international, scored the opening goal during the 19th minute. Her initial shot was stopped by Angel City keeper DiDi Haracic, but the veteran striker was quick to react on the rebound and slotted the ball into net.

The first half played out to a quick tempo as defenders on both sides were eager to get involved in the attack at times, as Angel City's high press forced a bad back pass for an own goal by Wave defender Tegan McGrady. Morgan broke the even scoreline and extended San Diego's lead just before halftime as she pounced on a rebound off a defender in the box.

Second-half shift

Wave coach Casey Stoney praised her team's efforts.

"I don't smile often, players will tell you that," Stoney said. "Listen, I'm kind of overcome with pride in terms of today's performance. In terms of the fact that they got pegged back twice after going in front. The fact that they dominated the first half, and could have gone in deflated. I thought they showed real character. Quality players showed quality on the pitch."

Morgan's second goal proved to be the winner for San Diego after she lost defenders in the box and held her position in open space as she timed her shot on frame.

"We pretty much just scored the goals for CBS," Morgan joked during postgame. "We know it was a TV game, obviously, we want to put a good product on the field. We're doing that week in and week out.

"I think for us it's kind of now building on this win and and knowing that we can compete with those teams. With Portland, we had a good amount of chances. You know, we're gonna see [OL] Reign for the first time, but I feel like this was just another step forward for us in this tournament."