National Women’s Soccer League – Page 5

Bay FC went all out against the Washington Spirit in a razor close game at Audi Field in Washington DC on Sat Mar 23, 2024 (Bay FC photo)

By William Espy

Bay FC visited the nation’s capital, Washington D.C, to take on the Washington Spirit at Audi Field. It was the home opener for the Spirit, who started their season in Seattle with a loss to the Seattle Reign and were looking to bounce back.

Bay FC on the other hand, started the season with a win against Angel City FC in Los Angeles. Their manager Albertin Montoya stuck with the 4-3-3 which worked well for them last time out, while Washington’s interim manager Adrian Gonzalez Morales countered with a 4-2-3-1 formation. The Spirit bounced back in with a one goal 2-1 win over Bay FC.

Bay FC Starting XI: Proulx, King, Beattie, Menges, Dydasco, Bailey, Anderson, Castellanos, Camberos, Blade, Oshoala

Washington Starting XI: Kingsbury, Krueger, Butel, McKeown, Carle, Hershfelt, Sullivan, Hatch, Bethune, Rodman, Sarr

Washington brought out quite a bit of pressure early, as they got a quality scoring chance less than a minute into the game. Bay FC would open the scoring though, as Dorian Bailey scored from the center of the box off of a pass from last game’s goal scorer Asisat Oshoala in the 11th minute.

Bailey spent five seasons with the Spirit before being acquired by Bay FC during the winter. Despite playing quite a few games with their organization, she was unable to score a goal in each of the last three seasons. Often regarded as a defender by the Spirit, Bailey is playing more of an offensive role with her new team. Oshoala almost scored one of her own in the 13th minute but hit the bar.

The former member of FC Barcelona has been a major contributor for Bay FC so far this season, and although she was unable to score in this game, she’s probably going to find the net more often than she misses this season.

Bay FC continued to apply pressure for the next ten minutes but were unable to extend their lead to two. After Scarlett Camberos was caught offside in the 21st minute, the Spirit started launching an attack which ended with a goal by Hal Hertshfelt from the right side of the box.

Trinity Rodman found her wide open, as she had been able to get behind Bay FC defender Savy King and Lysianne Proulx had no chance of saving the well-placed shot. It was Hershfelt’s first career NWSL goal in only her second career game, as she was selected by the Spirit in the first round of the 2024 draft.

For Bay FC, it was the first goal they had conceded since joining the league as well. Following the goal, momentum swung in Washington’s favor as they were able to maintain possession for the next few minutes and turned it into a couple more scoring chances.

Proulx faced a big test in the 34th minute, as Ouleymata Sarr took the ball from the defense in Washington’s offensive third of the pitch and got a shot off from just outside the box, as she has in most cases this season though, Proulx came through and made the save.

In the 36th minute, Casey Krueger collided with her teammate Hershfelt and went down with an apparent head injury. After a three-minute delay, she left the pitch under her own power and was eventually subbed off, with Anna Heilferty coming into the game. Due to the injury, officials would add six minutes of stoppage time but the game would head to halftime tied 1-1.

Neither team was able to get an advantage early in the second half, there was an occasional scoring chance but a lot of time was spent attempting to break through the defense on both ends. Bay in particular was maintaining considerable possession time, but were unable to get set up in the offensive third and were often regrouping in their own half of the pitch.

In the 58th minute, Deyna Castellanos took a hard foul after making contact with two Spirit players but would remain in the game. Just a few moments later, Rodman would be booked, the second yellow card of the game, the first was given to Camberos in the 48th minute.

Looking to break the tie, Washington took off their striker Sarr for Brittany Ratcliffe who had started in their two previous matches. In the 65th minute, Washington got the best opportunity of the half so far, when Croix Bethune hit the crossbar, if it were slightly lower it would’ve undoubtedly been the go-ahead goal.

In the 68th minute, Bay FC made their first substitution of the night as Jen Beattie was replaced by Alyssa Malonson on defense. At that point, momentum was certainly in the favor of the Spirit and Montoya hoped adding some energy to the backline could help settle things down a bit.

It did help, as Bay maintained possession in the offensive third a little more after the substitution, but the half was still scoreless when Rachel Hill replaced Cambreros in the 76th minute for Montoya’s second substitution of the night.

Injury struck again in the 83rd minute for the Spirit, as Rodman went down with apparent leg cramping and although she wanted to remain in the match, Courtney Brown took her spot for the remainder of the night.

Since Washington had used their three windows, they were done with substitutions for the night after Brown came on. In the 88th minute, Castellanos went down with an injury in the middle of play for Bay FC but she ended up remaining in the game.

The officials granted five minutes of stoppage time, and the game remained tied 1-1 after 90 minutes. That would change in the 95th though, as Bethune scored shortly after a set piece to give the Spirit a 2-1 lead and the victory. It was a heartbreaking first loss for Bay FC who could’ve easily walked away with a point on the road, but now they’ll look to bounce back in their home opener next weekend.

William Espy is a Bay FC beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bay FC battles Angel City FC in the inaugural game at BMO Field in Los Angeles at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles (Bay FC photo on X)

By William Espy

Bay FC’s long-awaited first game is now in the books. They traveled to BMO Field in Los Angeles to take on Angel City FC who finished fifth in the National Women’s Soccer League last season. There are always a lot of unknowns when a new team takes the pitch and Bay FC had a difficult test to make a first impression on the league.

Manager Albertin Montoya went with a 4-3-3 formation for his inaugural lineup which was matched by Angel City’s manager Becki Tweed’s own 4-3-3. Bay FC did have a single player who is unavailable for selection, as goalkeeper Melissa Lowder is out for the season with a knee injury.

Bay FC Starting XI: Proulx, King, Menges, Sharples, Dydasco, Anderson, Loera, Castellanos, Camberos, Oshoala, Boade

Angel City FC Starting XI: Anderson, Gordon, Nielsen, Riley, Vignola, Henry, Dougherty Howard, Fuller, Emslie, Leroux, Thompson

Angel City got some strong scoring opportunities in the sixth minute, but Bay FC’s defense held strong and goalkeeper Lysiane Proulx made some great saves as well to keep the game 0-0. During the scramble inside the box, Alexis Loera was able to get in front of a shot as well and saved what would’ve otherwise been a certain goal for the opposition.

In the sixteenth minute, Tess Boade intercepted an Angel City pass as they attempted to advance the ball outside of their defensive third, a quick pass to Asisat Oshoala resulted in the first goal of the game, and also the first goal in the history of Bay FC on their first shot of the night. Oshoala, who was signed from FC Barcelona, is expected to be one of the team’s top players this season so it was definitely a fitting first-goal scorer.

One of Bay FC’s defensive midfielders, Loera, would be the first player booked in the match after taking down Megan Dougherty Howard in the 31st minute. Shortly after the booking, Loera would be called for a foul on an impressive tackle that looked clean but luckily for Bay FC she avoided a second yellow card.

Proulx was tested with another difficult save, as Dougherty Howard was wide open inside the box and the ball was tipped just wide. As it neared the end of the first half, Angel City brought quite a bit of pressure as they attempted to tie the game before halftime. Despite heavy pressure, Bay FC was able to hold strong and maintain their lead into the half.

In the 50th minute, Angel City got robbed by Menges who was able to knock the ball out of bounds while Dougherty Howard was once again alone in front of the goal, this time with Proulx out of position following a previous save.

This was one of many moments during this game where Angel City should’ve had a goal, but strong positioning by Bay FC kept them in the lead.

They were playing a lot of defensive soccer early in the second half, as Angel City threw numbers forward in an attempt to bring themselves back into the game. In the 66th minute, Bay FC made their first substitutions of the game as Deyna Castellanos and Scarlett Camberos came out for Dorian Bailey and Rachel Hill respectively.

In the 70th minute, Dougherty Howard and Savy King collided at the goal line. Although she started to get up after the collision, King was down for a few moments and left momentarily to get checked out but returned to the game.

She was fouled again during the 76th minute and was once again slow to get up. Madison Hammond and Merritt Mathias would be substituted on for Angel City during the 77th minute, as Dougherty Howard and Ali Riley came off.

As we entered the final ten minutes of the game, desperation got much higher for Angel City while Bay FC ramped up their efforts to run down the clock and slow things down. Loera made a couple more big plays in the box, as she was able to block a few shots and was eventually brought down with a foul in the 81st minute.

Angel City made a couple more substitutions as Alyssa Thompson came off for Gisele Thompson while Messiah Bright took the pitch for Claire Emslie. King’s impressive NWSL debut would end in the 83rd minute as well, coming off for Kiki Pickett.

Montoya was loudly encouraging Bay FC to keep the play in front of them as time winded down, it was key to prevent getting behind the play and giving their opposition an opportunity. At the start of stoppage time, Caprice Dydasco made an incredible goal line stop that saved Proulx’s clean sheet for the time being.

Oshoala was in some difficulty at this point as well, she went down in the box, and Bay FC was left with only 10 players for a short time while Angel City mounted an attack. In the 94th minute, Angel City nearly tied it up once again as they hit the woodwork but the play was offside regardless.

Bay FC would hold on, and win their first game 1-0 in a nail biting affair. Proulx’s phenomenal performance was rewarded with a clean sheet. Although it was a difficult choice, as Proulx could’ve easily taken it as well, Oshoala was named player of the match as the only goal-scorer of the night.

General Takeaways

Although Lowder was in the running to be named starting goalkeeper for Bay FC prior to her injury, Proulx proved that the position is still in good hands. She played an incredible game and it’s clear why she was targeted out of Melbourne City of the Australian A-League.

The Canadian national kept her team in the game on multiple occasions and at only 24 years old, she still has plenty of room to improve. If she continues to play at this level, she could become the long-term goalkeeper for Bay FC.

Bay FC’s defense was strong, specifically when it came to blocking shots during scrambles in front of the net. With that being said, they did struggle to clear the ball when they were under a lot of pressure at times. Overall though, they played a very strong game and certainly didn’t look like the average expansion team. In most sports, you expect a brand-new team to struggle on a nightly basis but that won’t be the case with this team.

The second overall pick from the 2024 NWSL Draft, Savy King made her debut as a part of the team’s inaugural starting eleven and she didn’t look out of place in the slightest. She played a very strong game, making some long passes out of the defensive third to attempt a counter-attack opportunity.

The Santa Monica native won’t be perfect, as every 19-year-old in professional sports will undoubtedly make mistakes, but it’s clear that she has sky-high potential and can become one of the best players in the world if she reaches it. She can certainly become a candidate for the US Women’s National Team sooner rather than later.

Alex Loera’s aggressive play will certainly help create scoring chances for Bay FC this season, however, she needs to be careful once she already has a booking.

Her tackle a minute after getting booked looked clean, but she was given a foul on the play and a second booking could have drastically changed the outcome of the game. Although things worked out this time, it’s certainly going to be important to tone things down early in the game to allow more aggressive plays late in the match.