As hard as they tried Bay FC couldn’t get on the scoreboard and were shutout by the visiting Washington Spirit at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sat Jul 6, 2023 (photo by Bay FC)

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–Bay FC hosted the Washington Spirit in their final game before the Olympic break. Bay was looking to extend their winning streak to three games, while the Spirit looked to pull closer to the Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current in the standings.

Bay has a couple of ties with the Spirit, as head coach Albertin Montoya was previously their interim coach, while midfielder Dorian Bailey previously played for them. After winning two games in a row and winning three of their last five games Bay FC were shutout at Pay Pal Park 3-0 by the Spirit in Saturday night’s match.

Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, King, Menges, Sharples, Malonson, Castellanos, Pickett, Bailey, Kundananji, Oshoala, Hill

Spirit Starting XI: Kingsbury, Krueger, Butel, McKeown, Carle, Hershfelt, Sullivan, Rodman, Bethune, Morris, Sarr

In the third minute, Katelyn Rowland got very lucky to only get a yellow card when she came out to play the ball and took out the attacker’s legs. It could’ve easily been more than that, which would’ve certainly put Bay FC in a difficult spot very early on.

They weren’t overly lucky though, as just moments later Washington would make it 1-0 off of a shot from Makenna Morris. Before the match even started, it was clear that Bay would be fighting an uphill battle as they looked to knock off the third-placed team in the NWSL but now it was going to be even more difficult.

Morris was tripped inside the box by Alyssa Malonson in the 17th minute and was awarded a penalty. Upon review, it appeared that Morris tripped over her own leg, but the penalty stood Trinity Rodman stepped up to take it and scored, making it 2-0 for Washington just 20 minutes into the match.

In the 24th minute, Deyna Castellanos appeared to take an elbow to the head after a battle with Hal Hershfelt in midfield. Due to the nature of the impact, she had to get taken a look at by the medical staff but she remained in the game.

Not only did Castellanos remain in the game, but she got Bay FC’s best opportunity of the night so far in the 29th minute. Bailey had a long shot that nearly found the back of the net in the 32nd minute but went wide. Malonson was playing a very physical game, and although the penalty was a low point for her, she was doing very well winning battles and regaining possession for Bay.

Unfortunately, most people will forget her solid play and focus on the mistake. Once the 45 minutes elapsed, the officials added ten minutes of stoppage time leaving plenty of opportunities for Bay to score a goal and get back in the game, or for the Spirit to essentially put the game out of reach early on. Late in stoppage time, Rodman slipped with the ball and continued on but had a significant limp.

Rachael Kundananji nearly got Bay on the board just after the start of the second half, but her shot sailed wide. Malonson picked up an apparent ankle injury in the 51st minute and Caprice Dydasco was ready to enter the match if necessary but remained on the bench for the time being.

Washington extended their lead in the 57th minute in the midst of a counter attack when Ouleymata Sarr got past Kayla Sharples and gave Rowland no chance to make the save. The crucial third goal of the match went to the Spirit, and with a half hour remaining the game seemed out of reach for Bay.

After adding to their lead, Washington made some adjustments taking off Sarr, Sullivan and Morris for Hatch, Metayer, and Brown. In the 66th, Bay made some changes of their own with Malonson coming out for Dydasco and Tess Boade coming in for Castellanos.

In the 72nd, they made another change taking off Asisat Oshoala for Princess. Five minutes later, Washington took off Bethune for Stainbrook. Bay continued playing aggressively though, and Sharples picked up a yellow card in the 81st minute before getting a scoring chance just a few minutes later.

Once again, ten minutes of stoppage time were awarded at the end of the half. Once all was said and done, Bay FC would walk away with their second defeat of the season against the Spirit, this time with a final score of 3-0. It certainly wasn’t how Montoya wanted his squad to head into the break, but they’ll have plenty of time to prepare for their road trip in the second half of August.