Racheal Kundananji, right, and Bay FC nearly earned a surprising point against undefeated Orlando Pride on Friday at PayPal Park in San Jose but came up short in a 1-0 loss (San Francisco Chronicle photo)
By William Espy
SAN JOSE–Bay FC had a massive hill to climb on Friday night when they hosted the unbeaten Orlando Pride in a crucial game. The night marked the first meeting between two key members of the Zambia national team in the NWSL, as Barbra Banda was facing off against Bay FC’s Rachael Kundananji.
Banda currently finds herself second in the NWSL goal-scoring race with 12, behind only Temwa Chawinga of the Kansas City Current who has an outstanding 15 goals. It also marked the return of Marta to the Bay Area, who previously played for FC Gold Pride that participated in the Women’s Professional Soccer league in the early 2010s.
Bay couldn’t afford to drop points despite their opponent’s dominant play this season, as they had just a three point buffer over Racing Louisville for the final playoff spot entering the night. Bay couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net and Banda would score the match’s only goal for a 1-0 win.
Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, Dydasco, Menges, Dahlkemper, Malonson, Bailey, Pickett, Boade, Hill, Kundananji, Oshoala
Orlando Starting XI: Moorhouse, Abello, Sams, Dyke, Pickett, Gautrat, Angelina, Marta, Adriana, Banda, Doyle
Asisat Oshoala had the first real attacking opportunity for Bay FC in the third minute, but as she attempted to pass it across the box it went directly to a defender. Bay continued sustaining pressure on Orlando for the next minute straight, getting a couple of more chances they were unable to capitalize on before the Pride attempted to launch a counterattack that was also unsuccessful.
Rachel Hill got her first shot of the night in the eighth minute following a fantastic effort to maintain possession after she nearly lost it inside of the box. Hill found Oshoala behind the defense in the 11th minute, but the shot went directly at Orlando’s goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse.
Bay FC was desperately trying to get out to an early lead, but the Pride were doing a great job of fending them off. Angelina went down in some difficulty for Orlando around the 16th minute, with an apparent leg cramp but remained in the game after some attention from the trainers.
Katelyn Rowland made a massive save in the 20th minute and a follow-up shot was blocked by Caprice Dydasco using her face to prevent a goal. Dorian Bailey was tripped up outside of the box in the 26th minute, which gave Bay FC a dangerous free-kick. After a few passes, Emily Menges slipped while running after the ball, turning over possession to Orlando.
Bay was doing a phenomenal job pressuring and frustrating the Pride in the first half. They were regaining possession by force, which was clearly frustrating Orlando’s top players like Marta. It was generating quite a few chances, even though they weren’t able to finish them off.
It was just a matter of time though. This matchup didn’t feel like an unbeaten team against a team barely in the playoff spot, the intensity and competition level felt like two teams at the top of the table against one another.
Banda was getting a few shots off as the game progressed, but they were often rushed due to strong defending by the home side. Moorhouse made another diving save in the 41st minute to keep it scoreless. Despite Bay generating the most chances, it would all be meaningless if the teams went into halftime scoreless.
Oshoala had another great chance in the 44th minute, but Orlando was able to break up the play and prevent her from getting a quality shot off. Neither team would be able to break the deadlock in stoppage time, and they’d head into the break tied at 0. Officially, the statistics from the first half showed that Orlando had been the better team but the eye test showed differently.
The second half started with Orlando taking over control. While Bay FC were getting a few chances, they weren’t getting near as many or as high-quality of ones as they did in the first half. Banda got her most dangerous chance of the night so far in the 58th minute, but a perfect tackle by Abby Dahlkemper was able to knock the ball out of play for a corner kick.
Albertin Montoya made his first change at the hour mark, bringing in Maddie Moreau for Alyssa Malonson. A collision between Kundananji and Cori Dyke ended with Kundananji accidentally stepping on the back of Dyke’s calf, and she went down in some difficulty before being helped off the field by the training staff. Due to the injury, Orlando was forced to make a substitution bringing on Carrie Lawrence in her place, along with a couple of other substitutions.
Around the 70th minute, Moreau was brought down inside the box for what seemed to be a penalty however the referee ruled it a goal kick and play resumed to the dismay of Bay FC. Moreau was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Marta in the 77th minute.
At that point, Oshoala came out for Penelope Hocking. Dahlkemper saved a goal in the 78th minute when Rowland parried the ball, but it landed right in the middle of the box and the defender was able to clear it out.
Bailey was denied on a point-blank shot that Moorhouse saved with her leg while spinning before she landed on top of it. A phenomenal run by Kundananji in the 83rd minute nearly helped Bay take a late lead, unfortunately, once she passed it to Hill, Hill missed the shot just wide.
Banda got Orlando on the board in the 84th minute, Rowland wasn’t able to stretch out far enough to block the shot and the Pride led 1-0 with minimal time remaining. With stoppage time nearly at its end, Bay FC got one final free kick in the 96th minute. Bailey crossed it in, and Orlando cleared it out.
Orlando would ultimately hold on and maintain their lead until they walked away with a 1-0 victory on the road. It was a game that Bay FC could’ve won, but a few mistakes led to defeat. Importantly though, they proved that they have what it takes to hang with the best team in the NWSL which will certainly build confidence for their playoff push.
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