Forward María Sánchez, who previously played for the Houston Dash and San Diego Wave, has returned to her home club, Tigres UANL. The player signed a four-year deal with Liga MX Femenil, according to her agent's confirmation to The Athletic.
Both teams announced the transfer on Monday, which was first reported by ESPN. Sánchez expressed in a statement that she decided to return to Liga MX Femenil and specifically to Tigres after an internal search.
"When the opportunity came to return to Tigres I had to do a lot of inner searching, and I ultimately decided that returning to Liga MX Femenil and Tigres specifically was the best course of action for my career," Sánchez said in a statement.
Sánchez arrived at San Diego Wave as a marquee player last year after requesting a trade from Houston Dash. She signed with the club through 2026, but this season has fallen into a rotational role under coach Jonas Eidevall. In her final match for the Wave against the Washington Spirit, she started and ended the game in a scoreless draw on Sunday.
Across her 40 appearances with San Diego Wave, Sánchez scored nine goals and provided seven assists. With Houston Dash over two seasons, she tallied eight goals and 14 assists across 62 matches. In Mexico, Sánchez previously enjoyed brief spells with Guadalajara and Tigres over a two-year stretch.
The American-born attacker made her Liga MX debut with Guadalajara in 2020 before moving to Tigres the following year and leading the club to the league final. She has also featured in over 70 games for the Mexican women's national team since her international debut in 2015.
San Diego Wave sporting director and general manager Camille Ashton expressed support for Sánchez’s decision, stating that she “expressed her interest to rejoin the program” and that the club “respect and support her decision and wish her all the best moving forward.”
(Photo: EM Dash / Imagn Images)
