Bay FC’s Claire Hutton runs up the pitch against the Denver Summitt FC at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sat Mar 14, 2026 (Bay FC X photo)
By William Espy
SAN JOSE–Bay FC kicked off their 2026 season on Saturday afternoon with their home opener against expansion side Denver Summit FC with a 2-1 win at Pay Pal Park.
Bay FC controlled possession for the majority of the opening minutes, forcing turnovers in midfield and generating chances. With that being said, errant passes did cost them quite a few of those chances, but that’s expected with an abundance of new players in the lineup.
In the eighth minute, recently acquired Alex Pfeiffer scored Bay FC’s first goal of the season, and her first with her new club, to give Bay an early 1-0 lead. After the goal, Denver came out with a bit more offensive pressure, but Bay FC’s defense held strong.
Karlie Lema nearly doubled Bay’s lead in the 15th minute when she got past the goalkeeper, but it was too tight of an angle, and her shot went into the side netting. The Summit tied it up in the 20th minute with the first goal in franchise history, scored by Melissa Kossler.
Denver’s captain, Janine Sonis, was shown the first yellow card in club history after a dangerous challenge on Pfeiffer in the 26th minute. Moments later, though, the video assistant referee conducted a review and changed the call to a red card, leaving Denver with 10 players. Five minutes later, Joelle Anderson scored her first of the season to restore Bay’s lead.
There was a bit of ping pong in front of Bay FC’s goal in the 38th minute, bouncing off multiple defenders, and it seemed like they might score an own goal, but eventually the defense was able to clear it out.
Joelle Anderson was shown Bay FC’s first yellow card of the season following a challenge on Ayo Oke in the 51st minute.
Bay made a couple of substitutions around the hour mark, as Caroline Conti and the debuting Keira Barry took the field for Pfeiffer and Lema. Moments later, Denver took off Ally Brazier for Yuna McCormack.
After getting hit in the head by a shot, Carson Pickett was substituted off for Natalie Means. Anouk Denton then was brought on to make her Bay FC debut in the 84th minute.
Barry was shown her first yellow card in the NWSL in the 88th minute. Moments after the yellow card, Kundananji had a phenomenal scoring chance, but was denied by Denver’s goalkeeper, Abby Smith.
Kundananji was shown a yellow card during stoppage time, but moments later the final whistle blew and Bay FC was victorious.
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