San Diego Wave announced the signing of Spanish international goalkeeper , Sandra Paños to a three-year contract through the 2028 season.
“We’re incredibly excited to welcome (Paños) to San Diego,” said Sporting Director and General Manager Camille Ashton in a statement. “She is a world-class goalkeeper with experience and leadership at the highest levels of the game, which will be a tremendous addition to our team. Bringing a player of her caliber to the Wave reflects the ambition of our club as we continue
working toward winning a championship, and we’re thrilled to have her join this team.”
The Wave entered the 2026 season with many questions about the goalkeeper position following the departure of the club’s captain and anchor in goal, Kailen Sheridan.
Didi Haracic started the first match for the Wave, but got injured near the end of the match and new signing Leah Freeman took over. The Wave were dominant in possession for Freeman’s first matches, limiting the amount of shots she faced, but when she did face tougher chances her performance faltered leaving more worries about the depth in that position. The club also has 19-year-old Colombian goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo under contract, but she has not yet played any minutes for the club.
Paños most recently played with Club América Feminil en route to a Liga MX Femenil Clausura championship. She also won the “Portera de la Final” honors for her performance the two-leg championship against Monterrey.
The 33-year-old goalkeeper was a mainstay in Club América’s starting XI during a successful run as one of the top clubs in Mexico, but always managed to come up short in the playoffs finishing as runner-up multiple seasons.
Paños also earned much acclaim for her time in Spain dating back to 2015 when she started with Barcelona. There she earned four Zamora awards for the goalkeeper with the best goals-to-games ratio, won three UEFA Women’s Champions League trophies and five Liga F championships over nine years in Spain.
“I’m excited to join San Diego and begin this new chapter of my career,” said Paños. “The Wave has a talented group of players, and the club’s strong foundation and ambition are what attracted me here. I’m looking forward to bringing my experience to the team and doing everything I can to help the Wave compete for championships.”
Paños will likely take over the starting role soon for the club that is already atop the NWSL table. The Wave play their first match returning from the midseason break on Saturday, July 4, against Gotham FC.
