Hard as they tried Bay FC couldn’t overcome the San Diego Wave at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Sat Jul 20, 2024 (Bay FC image)

By William Espy

Bay FC visited the San Diego Wave on Saturday night to start the Summer Cup. With a few of their players off to play in the Olympics, and a few others out of the lineup for other reasons, Bay was running with a much different starting eleven than we’ve seen previously.

San Diego had a highly motivated Alex Morgan in the lineup, as she was left off the United States Olympic Team. Emmie Allen was making the first start of her professional career between the pipes for Bay. Bay FC couldn’t hold on losing in a two goal match 3-1 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

Bay FC Starting XI: Allen, Brewster, Beattie, Moreau, Dydasco, Bailey, Shepherd, Castellanos, Doms, Conti, Hill

Wave Starting XI: Beall, McNabb, Westphal, Dahlkemper, Wesley, McCaskill, Colaprico, Doniak, Bennett, Sanchez, Morgan

Allen got forced into action early, making a great save in the 6th minute while she was assisted by defender Jordan Brewster who was also making her first start with Bay FC. Bay spent a majority of the opening minutes with the ball around their box, but they were defending very well despite a few young defenders and midfielders.

15 minutes into the game, Allen went down with an apparent injury but she got back on her feet and remained in the game. Katelyn Rowland was on the bench if necessary, but the 21-year-old Allen certainly needed to make the most of her opportunity.

She certainly was doing so, making another save, this time on Alex Morgan in the 26th minute. A nice passing play nearly gave Bay the lead in the 28th minute, and Deyna Castellanos put it away with a nice finish but the play was called offside. Albertin Montoya was trying something new, playing with Castellanos as a false nine which was seemingly working early in the match.

Around the halfway point in the first half, things seemed to switch a bit. The Wave were carrying momentum and bringing heavy pressure early on, but Bay was starting to swing things in their favor. Dydasco made a phenomenal block in the 31st minute, preventing a quality scoring chance by San Diego.

Kristen McNabb picked up a yellow card in the 36th minute for San Diego when she tripped up Dydasco in midfield. A jumping Jordan Brewster and Makenzy Doniak collided in midfield moments later, leaving Doniak down in some pain and Brewster no worse for wear.

Doniak got back to her feet and remained in the match for the time being. San Diego got a dangerous chance in the 40th minute when Jen Beattie went down leaving it a 2-on-1 with Brewster as the long defender back. Brewster handled it very well though and prevented San Diego from getting on the board.

Rachel Hill created a great chance with hard work in the 42nd, as the Wave tried to hold out for a goal kick as the ball drifted out of play but Hill hustled, got a foot on the ball, and centered it to Castellanos who was unable to finish it off.

Moments later, Bay got their strongest opportunity of the night as Maddie Moreau and Hill got past the defense, but Moreau’s pass was just out of Hill’s reach and went out of play. San Diego took the lead in stoppage time off of a corner, Maria Sanchez whipped it into the head of Kennedy Wesley and Allen had no chance to make a save. It marked the Wave’s first goal since June 19th and Wesley’s first professional goal.

Joelle Anderson entered the game early in the second half for Bay FC, taking over for Maya Doms. Bay got a chance around the 50th minute when a cross from Moreau found Castellanos in front of the goal but it went wide of the goal following a weak shot.

Sanchez scored her first goal with the Wave in the 53rd minute on a long shot that went well over Allen’s head, giving her no chance to make the save once again. Allen was playing at a high level in her first career start, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do on either of the goals Bay had conceded.

Anderson continued trying to make an impact after entering the game, getting a solid shot just a few minutes later. Moreau got Bay FC on the board in the 63rd minute following a bad clearing attempt by the Wave’s goalkeeper Beall.

It was a great moment for Moreau, who was undrafted in the 2024 NWSL Draft but still scored in her rookie season. Chaos inside Bay FC’s box in the 80th minute gave San Diego a 3-1 lead. Allen originally made the save, but with nobody in between the ball and Amirah Ali, Ali was able to retrieve the ball and put it away.

All things considered, Bay played well with a young lineup against an experienced Wave team. Bay was awarded a penalty at the start of stoppage time when Dydasco went down hard inside of the box.

Castellanos stepped up to take it, and Beall read the shot perfectly, denying the attempt. San Diego walked away with their first win in 10 games, as they defeated Bay FC 3-1 and now leads their group in the Summer Cup.