Preview: San Diego Wave FC vs. Chicago Stars FC
NWSL Chicago Stars FC

Preview: San Diego Wave FC vs. Chicago Stars FC

Published on October 18, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Chicago Stars FC News Release


SAN DIEGO - Chicago Stars FC (2-11-11, 17 pts) travel to the west coast for their penultimate match of the 2025 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) regular season to take on San Diego Wave FC (9-8-7, 34 pts).

Where to Watch

National Broadcast: ION

Previous Result:

SD: San Diego won on the road against Utah Royals FC, 3-2

CHI: Chicago earned a hard-fought tie against Racing Louisville FC, 1-1

Storylines

Longtime No Sea: Chicago travel to California for their second matchup against the Wave this season. The first time the two sides faced off was way back in week six of the NWSL season when the Wave visited Chicago and walked away with a 0-3 win. Despite the loss, Chicago had more shots (12 to 9) and more touches inside the 18-yard box (20 to 18). Nevertheless, the two sides are very different teams since their match in April. Chicago has found ways to score goals and earn hard-fought draws against their opponents, while San Diego has lost some of the momentum that saw them shoot up the standings and they now find themselves in sixth place, with a real chance of missing playoffs. Knowing that, Chicago will have a tough match ahead as the Wave surely won't go down without a fight. Looking at the matchup, San Diego has an edge over the Stars with more goals scored (34 to 29), better possession percentage (59.4 to 46.8) and a better passing accuracy (83% to 75%). Chicago, however, does almost match the Wave in assists, with 23 to their 25, and long ball percentage with 41% to 47%. The Stars also have a slight edge defensively with more tackles (281 to 235) and interceptions (239 to 185). Chicago's record and stats may give San Diego confidence heading into the match, but Chicago's defining characteristic in the second half of the season has been their fight. We're in the home stretch of the NWSL season, so throw the stats out the window - points this weekend are going to whoever wants it more.

Stars Around the World: Following this weekend's match, most Chicago Stars will take a break while their teammates travel around the world to join their respective national teams. One Star, Micayla Johnson, has already departed the team and is currently with the United States Under-17 Women's National Team as they prepare for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The team will be in action at 2 p.m. CT October 18 as they take on Ecuador in the team's first match of the tournament. Chicago Stars Julia Grosso (CAN), Kathrin Hendrich (GER), Ludmila (BRA) and Jameese Joseph (US U-23) will also join their national teams, though Joseph is the only one staying stateside. Grosso and Canada play a pair of friendlies in Europe against Switzerland and the Netherlands, while Hendrich rejoins Germany after the EUROs this summer to take on France for the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League Finals. Chicago Stars' leading goal scorer and NWSL golden boot candidate, Ludmila, joins Brazil for a pair of friendlies against England and Italy. This is the forward's fourth call-up of the year with Brazil and first since the June international window. Forward, Jameese Joseph, heads to the City of Brotherly Love with the United States Under-23 Women's National Team for their first training camp since June. This is Joseph's third time joining the U-23s this year as the young forward continues to carve a path for herself on the international stage just two years into her professional career. Grosso, Hendrich, Johnson, Joseph and Ludmila will represent the Stars on three different continents during this international window, and back home in Chicago, we'll be cheering them on and ready to welcome them back to close the season out strong.

The Life of a Gritty Defender: Defender Camryn Biegalski has quietly had one of the best seasons of her career and has been one of the most reliable players on the Stars this year. This past weekend against Louisville, the sixth-year defender had one of her best matches of the season, helping on both sides of the ball. On defense, Biegalski had more attempted tackles (6) and more tackles won (5) than any other player on the pitch. The Illinois native leads her fellow defenders with a 73% tackle success rate and ranks second in the league in tackles won among defenders with at least 20 attempted tackles this season. Biegalski also ranks in the top 15 defenders among her counterparts who have played as many, or more matches, though only Nuria Rábano (UTA) has more attempted tackles than Biegalski (83 to 56). On offense against Louisville, Biegalski led the team in chances created (2), took one shot at goal and had the second highest passes completed (38) on the Stars. The defender also had the second highest number of completed passes (38) among players on both teams and led all players in touches (82). Biegalski admirably and more than adequately stepped up for the Stars this season, filling in for Natalia Kuikka, who has battled injury most of the season. In doing so, the Lombard native has set a career high in matches played and started (19 and 15), tackle success rate (73.21%) and second highest in pass accuracy (67.38%).

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from October 18, 2025


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