Wave roster could be in for serious shift in ’26, but might the squad snag a star?

San Diego Wave FC forward Melanie Barcenas, in an interview during the club’s recent successful run through the World Sevens Football tournament, touched on roster changes for 2026.

They could be substantial. Some departures are expected with the contracts of about a dozen players having expired.

A number of Wave players in the tournament, won by San Diego, including Didi Haračić, Hillary Beall, Makenzy Robbe and Hanna Lundkvist became free agents after the Nov. 22 NWSL championship game, as did Barcenas herself.

One of the team’s free agents, center back Kennedy Wesley, re-signed with the club in
August, but Beall, a backup goalkeeper, already departed: she inked a contract with the
Houston Dash on Monday.

The Wave announced on Tuesday that the team is in “active discussions” regarding contract options for the 2026 season with Barcenas, Haračić and Lundkvist, as well as midfielder Jordan Fusco and defender Nya Harrison, a 23-year-old San Diego native.

The team also indicated that the following players were likely to leave in free agency: Beall, Robbe, Kyra Carusa, Mya Jones and Chiamaka Okwuchukwu.

Though it ended with a playoff loss in the first round to Portland, 2025 was a bounce-back year for San Diego after a turbulent campaign the year before. The Wave failed to reach the postseason for the first time in its four-season history in 2024.

Many pundits thought the 2025 iteration of the squad would miss the playoffs again, but the Wave managed a 10-7-9 record, good enough for sixth place in the NWLS and a postseason berth.

Considering that the team installed a new head coach, Jonas Eidevall, in January, and that
three players who played substantial minutes are still teenagers – Barcenas and Trinity
Armstrong (both 18) and Kimmi Ascanio (17) – reaching the playoffs, even as a lower seed, was a success.

With the team having found its coach for the foreseeable future – Eidevall signed a three-year deal when he came to San Diego – and the front office seeming to have stabilized, among the things on the agenda for early 2026 is for the club to re-sign at least some of its remaining free agents.

The team embarked on a youth movement last offseason, led by talented younger
players like Lundkvist (23) and Barcenas, a San Diego native. But the club
also will likely bring aboard other younger players from outside the organization to replace
departing free agents and/or players that leave via transfer.

In addition to an infusion of more talented youngsters, another priority would be to add
a dynamo. The Wave’s star power waned with the departures of the now-retired Alex Morgan, along with Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw.

What type of player would fit the Wave’s needs? Specifically a go-to, world-class finisher who has the potential to score goals in the double digits each season in order to propel San Diego over the hump and once again into the realm of elite NWSL teams.

Among those available this offseason were three dynamic forwards, the Portland Thorns’
Sophia Wilson, Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman and Midge Purce of the NWSL’s champs, Gotham FC.

Although each player’s current team is considered to have the inside track to keeping them – Gotham locked down Purce for one year on Friday and there’s always the possibility of playing overseas for more money – San Diego could deliver the right sales pitch and bring in a new star.

If that happens, Wave FC would likely transform from a club that competes in one or two
playoff matches and into a legitimate championship contender.

But for now they only hope to build on the W7F win, though Bardenas was wistful heading into the final match.

“We understand that this might be the last time we’re all playing together and I think we’re
just taking in the energy, having fun,” she said ahead of the clincher, which they won 3-0.