Tom Krasovic: Wave have improved at coping without star Alex Morgan

Whether Alex Morgan plays or not Sunday after missing the past three matches with an ankle injury, the Wave have improved at supporting the star forward when she does play and scoring goals when she doesn’t.

As the three-year franchise has evolved, so has its ability to rely less on the now 34-year-old, two-time World Cup champion who entered last season as FIFA’s second-ranked woman player in the world.

“Alex isn’t going to be around forever,” coach Casey Stoney said last week, when bluntly assessing the club’s task of adapting to recent injuries. “She’s a fantastic player. So, we have to create chances when she’s not injured.”

Led by midfielder-forward Jaedyn Shaw, 19, and forward Makenzy Doniak, 30, the Wave have scored two goals in each of their home games since Morgan went down late in the 1-0 loss April 19 at Orlando. They won both of those matches.

In the middle contest without Morgan, a 2-1 loss, the offense did a poor job of exploiting the Reign being a player down for the final 81 minutes. The team appeared to miss Morgan’s wisdom and leadership. Even so, forward Kyra Carusa’s goal that night was the Wave’s first in Seattle over their past four matches there.

So as the Wave try to score Sunday against defending NWSL champion NJ/NY Gotham in a 4:35 p.m. contest at Snapdragon Stadium, they can draw from a more talented and diversified offense than when the New Jersey club played its first match in San Diego. On that night in May 2022, Morgan scored every goal in a 4-0 victory at the University of San Diego.

Back then, the fledgling Wave needed greatness from Morgan, and she delivered by accounting for 15 of their 32 goals and also scoring the game-winner in a playoff victory in Mission Valley.

As impressive as it was, Stoney was stating the obvious a season later when she said the Wave would need to diversify their attack, rather than rely on Morgan to once again score half of their goals.

The results were only decent. Morgan would once again lead the Wave in scoring, yet the Wave got 23 goals from other players beyond her seven.

Blunting those gains, the whole offense looked stagnant in a 1-0 home-field defeat in the semifinals, squandering a chance to play for the NWSL title in Mission Valley.

Asking Morgan to carry this year’s Wave team wouldn’t have made much sense, either.

She’ll be 35 in July, when she’ll also be preparing for the Paris Olympic Games, a roster spot she assumed in February after forward Mia Fishel, a fellow San Diegan, suffered a torn knee ligament in the U.S. squad’s training camp.

The Wave (3-1-3) have shown some offensive growth in the young season. To navigate a schedule that’s been expanded from 22 to 26 games, more will be needed.

With Morgan limited to four matches and seeking her first goal of the season, the Wave have received two goals apiece from Shaw and Doniak and one goal from Emily van Egmond, Sofia Jakobsson and Carusa.

They stand eighth of 14 clubs in goals scored — not terrible, considering no Wave forward or midfielder comes close to matching Morgan’s experience in either the NWSL or advanced international competitions such as the World Cup and the Olympics.

“You miss her leadership,” Stoney said, praising also Morgan’s professionalism.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the Wave have obtained a pair of veteran forwards who, like Morgan, feature a dangerous left foot.

The first to arrive was Doniak, who sat out the Wave’s first nine matches in 2022 but has since netted eight shots in 44 matches. The University of Virginia’s career goals leader, Doniak has developed a connection with Shaw and other attacking midfielders.

María Sánchez, 28, arrived via a high-profile trade last month after the Wave, flexing their financial muscles, sent $500,000 to the Houston Dash in return for the NWSL veteran and Mexico National Team forward.

Sanchez is in the first year of $1.5 million three-year contract, with a fourth-year option, that was at the time the largest in NWSL history, per ESPN.

In her three matches since the trade, Sánchez has taken several corner kicks and a free kick from 25 yards out that led to Shaw taking and making the first penalty kick by a Wave player other than Morgan, who has converted all seven of those shots.

Shaw also gives the Wave a recognizable playmaker to assist Morgan in attracting fans and generating publicity.

When she scored a goal in Mission Valley last fall in the U.S. victory over Colombia, the crowd let out chants of “Jae-Dyn Shaw” accompanied by staccato clapping.

The Wave benefited hugely when Morgan asked for the trade that sent her from Orlando entering the start-up franchise’s first season. Building on the Morgan windfall that helped established the club as NWSL attendance leaders and playoff regulars, Wave Team President Jill Ellis and Stoney have found and supported other offensive players who also bear watching.