Bay FC players were thrilled with their winning goal over the Seattle Reign FC at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sun Apr 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–Bay FC Hosted Seattle Reign FC on Sunday evening on Women’s Empowerment Night and picked up their first home victory of the franchise 3-2 at Pay Pal Park. Bay FC’s most recent game was against the Houston Dash on March 30, a night that marked their first home opener as well as the first sellout in team history. Now, following a couple of weeks of international duty for some of the players, the team was ready to return to action and try to avenge their loss to the Dash.

Seattle Reign Starting XI: Dickey, Huerter, Cook, Barnes (C), Woodham, James-Turner, Van Der Jagt, Athens, Ji, Fishlock, Balcer

Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, Dydasco, Menges, Malonson, Sharples, Loera, Bailey, Castellanos, Oshoala, Boade (C), Kundananji

It’s important to note that Lysianne Proulx was unavailable for this game after picking up a minor injury while playing with Canada, but she has been participating in some training recently and is expected to return in the near future. Scarlett Camberos was also out of the lineup for a similar reason.

The first half started off fairly even, with end-to-end action. Their first big scoring chance came when Alyssa Malonson found quite a bit of space on the left side of the pitch, but the cross went straight to the goalkeeper rather than the intended recipient.

Bay sustained offensive pressure for the next few minutes, with Racheal Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala attempting to create chances. They tested Seattle’s keeper, Claudia Dickey a few times but the game remained 0-0. In the 18th minute, Oshoala got through the defense and shot it just wide of the goal.

Bay also came out of the gate very aggressively, an early slide tackle set the mood for the rest of the half. Alex Loera earned back possession with a hard, but clean tackle. Kundananji had a similar tackle, but was called for a foul as it was a little off-target and caught the attacker’s legs rather than the ball. No card was shown on the play though.

In the 27th minute, Katelyn Rowland showed her sweeper-keeper ability coming into the middle third to clear out a ball despite it being swarmed by other players. It was a dangerous play, but it got the ball to safety. About a minute later though, disaster struck for Bay.

Despite having quite a strong start to the game, an own goal by Kayla Sharples put them down 1-0 on a very unfortunate play. In the 32nd minute, Deyna Castellanos had a strong chance from inside the box, but Dickey was able to tip it over the net and Bay got a corner kick as a result, but nothing would come from it.

In the 40th minute, Seattle got a strong scoring chance when Bethany Balcer nearly got in all alone with the goalkeeper, but a strong defensive effort by Malonson broke up the play and conceded a corner instead.

Shortly after, Bay got an opportunity of their own as Tess Boade got a shot off, that was saved by Dickey in the 41st minute. Despite Bay FC having a strong performance and outplaying their opposition in the first half, they walked out of the first half trailing 1-0.

Bay FC came out with intensity to start the second half, Oshoala had a quality scoring chance from just outside of the box just a minute into the half but it went just wide. In the 48th minute, Bay FC would score what seemed like an inevitable goal.

Sharples made up for her prior own goal, scoring a header off of an assist from Emily Menges. It was a rare situation where the center-backs combined to score a goal, It was Sharples’ second-ever NWSL goal and Menges’ first career assist. In the 54th minute, Seattle tried to answer back but their header went just wide of the goal, and the game remained tied at 1.

In the 57th, Bay FC led another strong attack, but the ball was tipped wide by the defense and it resulted in another corner opportunity. Although the corner itself didn’t lead to a goal, the ball found its way to Alex Loera who scored on a screamer of a shot to make it a quick 2-1 lead for Bay.

It was the first goal Loera had ever scored in the regular season, her only previous goals came during the playoffs. After the goal, Dickey received some attention from the trainer and had to leave the game, Laurel Ivory entered the game to take over in goal.

Bay FC continued their attacking pressure shortly after the goal but were unable to beat the keeper. In the 63rd minute, Malonson would be substituted for Savy King, who was playing her first career game outside of the starting lineup.

It would take until the 67th minute for Rowland to get tested in the second half, Olivia Athens got a shot off, but it was directly to Rowland. That marked Seattle’s first shot on target of the night. In the 71st minute, Rowland went down and required attention from the trainer as well.

During this time, Seattle made three substitutions to attempt to spark their offense. After a short delay, she remained in the game and immediately was forced to make her second save of the night.

In the 78th minute, Bay nearly put the game away as Oshoala found herself all alone with the keeper but the shot went just left of the goal. In the 81st minute, it seemed like Bay FC had put the game away when Boade found the back of the net, but the play was called offside.

A few minutes later, Seattle tied it up with a goal from Balcer and the mood instantly shifted in Paypal Park. It went from Bay FC putting the game away to a tied game over the course of just a couple of minutes.

However, in the 87th minute, things changed once again. Joelle Anderson’s shot was deflected by a defender into the back of the net which gave Bay FC a 3-2 lead with very little time remaining. It seemed like Seattle tied it up just a few moments later, but the play was called offside and it remained 3-2 in favor of the home team.

12 minutes of stoppage time were added, and Bay FC needed to find a way to hold on if they wanted to walk away with their first home win in franchise history. In the 92nd minute, Oshoala went down in the offensive third of the pitch and received some medical attention as well, which certainly added a little more time to the end of the game. She spent a moment on the sideline but quickly returned to action.

In the 94th minute, Oshoala was able to receive a breakout pass, putting her one-on-one with a defender who she got past and seemingly scored a goal but on the breakout it appeared that she grazed the ball with her hand and it was called back.

Eventually, she’d be substituted out as Bay went for a more defensive approach to end the game, and Jen Beattie entered the match. After stoppage time drew to a close, Bay FC walked away with their first ever home win, 3-2. It was an emotional night for the players, coaching staff and of course the fans. They’ll need to carry that energy into their next game as they look to build some momentum.