Bay FC match report: San Diego defense shuts down Bay FC 2-1 Saturday

Bay FC forward Penelope Hocking, center, is seen on the sideline before a NWSL soccer match against San Diego Wave FC in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025.Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–Bay FC hosted the San Diego Wave on Saturday night. Bay were looking to start climbing up the standings, while San Diego attempted to solidify their spot near the top of the league table. The Wave were able to use some good defense to shut down Bay FC from making a come back late in the match 2-1 at Pay Pal Park.

San Diego got a chance from a free kick in the opening minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar and Jordan Silkowitz was in the perfect position to make a save if it was a bit lower as well.

Silkowitz had to make a few saves early in the match, as the San Diego attack looked to get on the board, but she stood tall.

In the 23rd minute, Silkowitz went down with an apparent cramp but quickly got back up and remained in the game. In the 26th minute, Rachel Hill was taken down inside the box, but, rightfully, no penalty was awarded.

In the 45th minute, Rachael Kundananji went down after a collision in midfield. San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan showed tremendous sportsmanship, as she immediately came over to check on her, just as she did for Silkowitz earlier in the match. Kundananji got some attention from the training staff, but remained in the match.

The match remained a draw heading into halftime, but possession was massively in favor of the visiting side.

Kundananji got a shot on target in the 49th minute, with a strong run past the Wave defense but Sheridan made an easy save. Silkowitz followed suit with a save of her own in the 51st minute. Unfortunately for Bay, moments later San Diego would take the lead in the 52nd minute with a goal by 17-year-old Kimmi Ascanio.

Silkowitz made a phenomenal diving save in the 57th minute to keep the deficit at just a single goal.

San Diego made the first substitution of the night in the 60th minute with Trinity Armstrong entering for Hanna Lundkvist. Meanwhile in the 62nd minute, Taylor Huff was shown the first yellow card of the night.

Kenza Dali made it 2-0 in the 64th minute, right before Albertin Montoya was set to make a wholesale change. Dorian Bailey, Kiki Pickett and Tess Boade entered after the goal in an attempt to right the ship, but it seemed like Montoya waited too long to make the changes.

Boade gave Sheridan another save in the 69th minute, as the shot went directly to the Wave goalkeeper.

San Diego was called for a handball inside the box in the 73rd minute, and Caroline Conti stepped up to the spot. She scored on the shot, and Bay FC trailed by only a single goal with 15 minutes to go. At that point, Montoya took out Kelli Hubly for forward Asisat Oshoala as they desperately needed an equalizer.

Perle Morroni was shown a yellow in the 89th minute. Ultimately, Bay FC’s comeback attempt would come up short, and they’d fall 2-1.

San Diego hands Bay FC second straight loss 3-1 at Snapdragon

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.

Bay FC gets by San Diego Wave 2-1; Bay ends 5 game skid

Bay FC score goal and later enjoy the thrill of victory defeating the San Diego Wave at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Fri May 17, 2024 (Bay FC X photo)

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–Bay FC had an opportunity to get revenge on the San Diego Wave on Friday night. Their previous meeting was a 2-1 victory for the Wave, however heading into the night they had yet to win a game on the road which would be some good news for Bay.

Bay FC’s performances lately haven’t been great either though, as they entered the night in the middle of a five-game losing streak which they desperately hoped to end. Prior to the match, Caprice Dydasco was given a shirt commemorating her 150th career NWSL match which she had played a few weeks ago. Bay turned the tables on the Wave on Friday night with a 2-1 win of their own at Pay Pal Park in San Jose.

Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, Dydasco, Menges, Sharples, King, Anderson, Pickett, Blade, Kundananji, Oshoala, Camberos

San Diego Starting XI: Sheridan, Lundkvist, Girma, Wesley, Westphal, van Egmond, Colaprico, Sanchez, McCaskill, Jones, Carusa

On the injury front, Bay FC would be without Maddie Moreau, Jordan Brewster, and Maya Doms. Alex Loera and Melissa Lowder remain on the season-ending injury list and will not return until 2025. San Diego on the other hand would be without key player Alex Morgan as well as Jaedyn Shaw and Makenzy Doniak.

An interesting note was that Deyna Castellanos was available off of the bench, which hasn’t been a common occurrence so far this season. After the match, Albertin Montoya said that she had picked up a knock during training and had to be limited as a result.

San Diego did a great job holding possession for the first few minutes of the match, most of the time when Bay touched the ball early it was a simple clearance that would be regathered by San Diego very quickly. Scarlett Camberos got Bay’s first attack going in the fifth minute and earned a corner kick after a fantastic run.

Joelle Anderson kicked it short to Tess Boade who immediately passed it back to Anderson who fired a shot that went just high of the goal. Bay got another strong attacking opportunity when Kailen Sheridan came out of her box to play the ball, the attacking duo of Asisat Oshoala and Rachael Kundananji tried to pass it around to find a shot on the open net, however, were unable to do so.

In the 23rd minute, a scramble in front of the net eventually found its way to the Wave’s striker Kyra Carusa who was able to take advantage and give her team a 1-0 lead halfway through the first half. In the 26th minute, the ball deflected awkwardly off of Katelyn Rowland’s hands and nearly gave the Wave a 2-0 lead, however, Kiki Pickett was able to get back and make a goal-line save to deny a second goal.

Camberos continued to create chances in the offensive third of the pitch through hard work and determination, but at the half-hour mark, they still hadn’t been able to convert on any of the chances. Boade was shown a yellow card during the 35th minute following a play in which she lost possession and made a challenge in an attempt to get it back.

The dynamic duo of Oshoala and Kundananji had another strong chance in the 45h minute, however, the goalkeeper played it almost perfectly and prevented them from getting a shot off. After a single minute of stoppage time, the referee would blow the whistle to mark the end of the first half.

Despite San Diego leading considerably in possession time, shots, and shots on target, the game felt much more even than the numbers indicated at the half. Many of Bay’s opportunities were coming in transition, which didn’t come across on the stat sheet very well.

Albertin Montoya’s squad remained the same to start the second half, while Casey Stoney made one change taking off Naomi Girma for Abby Dahlkemper. Camberos, who had been one of the focal points of the offense all night, finally got herself a goal in the 55th minute.

She was left alone by the back post, and once the ball got to her off of a pass from Pickett, Sheridan had no chance to stop it. It marked Camberos’s first goal with her new team, as although she’d been close on many occasions she hadn’t been able to convert on any of her chances to that point.

After the goal, San Diego would make a couple of substitutions taking off Carusa and Christen Westphal for Kristen McNabb and Elyse Bennett. In the 65th, Stoney would make another substitution taking out Mya Jones for Sofia Jakobsson.

Anderson got a chance in the 67th minute, as she got behind the defense but Sheridan came up big for San Diego and denied the shot. With the game tied up, an already physical game got much more physical. Bay was desperate for a point, although they’d undoubtedly prefer three, and the Wave weren’t going to give it to them without a fight. In the 71st minute, Sheridan required some medical attention but remained in the game after a short delay.

Jakobsson nearly scored a go-ahead goal for San Diego in the 74th minute, but a clutch save by Rowland maintained the tie for the time being. Anderson came out for Dorian Bailey in the 75th minute. Bay FC continued bringing a lot of pressure in their offensive end of the pitch as the match entered the final 15 minutes, however, San Diego was responding with some pressure of their own as well.

It was quite a bit of back and forth at that stage of the game. In the 87th minute, Bailey jumped around a diving Sheridan while maintaining control of the ball. She passed the ball into the center of the box and Rachael Kundananji was able to get to it and give Bay FC a 2-1 lead with minimal time remaining.

Boade and Savy King came out after the goal with Castellanos and Alyssa Malonson taking their place.Camberos came out in the 92nd minute for Jen Beattie as Montoya looked to defend the lead.After an abundance of time wasting and creating even more offensive chances, the referee would blow the whistle in the 98th minute and Bay FC’s losing streak was officially over. They walked away with a 2-1 win.

They’ve played well most of the season so far despite not getting the result on many occasions, it’s possible this could be remembered as a turning point in the season but we’ll have to wait and see.

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

San Diego edges Bay FC 2-1; Bay FC loses it fourth game of season

Try as hard as they did including headers Bay FC couldn’t get in the win column and drop their fourth loss of the season to the San Diego Wave at Bashor Field in San Diego on Sat Apr 27, 2024 (Bay FC X photo)

By William Espy

Bay FC finished up their three-game road trip in San Diego to take on the San Diego Wave at Bashor Field on Saturday night to a 2-1 loss. Neither team has had the start to the season they had hoped for and both were without key players for this matchup.

Bay’s first-ever signing Alex Loera is out for the season with a torn ACL, while San Diego is without Alex Morgan, Abby Dahlkemper, Melanie Barcenas, and Sofia Jakobsson. Due to the amount of injuries in their lineup, San Diego’s Kimmi Ascanio made her first career start in the NWSL at just 16 years of age.

On Bay FC’s side of things, Albertin Montoya went with a slightly different approach for tonight’s game with Loera out of the lineup, moving Tess Boade back into a more defensive role alongside Dorian Bailey in the midfield. They did have Scarlett Camberos back in the lineup though which was certainly beneficial for the team’s offense.

San Diego Starting XI: Sheridan, Girma, Lundkvist, Wesley, McNabb, Doniak, Ascanio, Jones, Carusa, McCaskill, Colaprico

Bay FC Starting XI: Proulx, King, Dydasco, Menges, Sharples, Bailey, Boade, Castellanos, Camberos, Oshoala, Kundananji

San Diego nearly got out to an early lead in the 10th minute, however, Lysianne Proulx was able to disrupt the play and keep the ball out of the net. That wouldn’t last long though, as just three minutes later Makenzy Doniak was able to beat Proulx with a shot just inside of the box after a pass from the aforementioned Ascanio who recorded her first career NWSL assist.

Racheal Kundananji tried to tie it up a couple of minutes later with a long shot, however, it went over the net and it remained 1-0 in favor of San Diego. Boade showed that a more defensive role wouldn’t prevent her from contributing offensively in the 21st minute, as she was able to take the ball away from Ascanio with a considerable amount of pressure and then immediately get a strong scoring opportunity but she was denied by Kailen Sheridan.

A few moments later, Proulx came out of the goal to play the ball near the edge of the box however the ball fell to a member of the Wave with a wide-open goal. Bay FC got bailed out by Emily Menges who blocked the shot and prevented San Diego from getting out to a 2-0 lead.

Bay got another strong scoring chance in the 28th minute, as Kundananji ran down the wing before finding Asisat Oshoala in front of the goal, who passed it back to Deyna Castellanos. Castellanos fired a great shot, however it went just over the crossbar.

In the 33rd minute, Danielle Colaprico collided with Bailey in midfield. Colaprico went down in a considerable amount of pain with an apparent nose injury, as it was a face-to-face collision between the two. Since she caused a delay in the match, Colaprico had to go to the sideline while play restarted.

In a tremendous showing of sportsmanship, Bailey headed to the sideline herself as well to stand with Colaprico preventing either team from getting an advantage as the result of an accidental injury. One of the most noticeable aspects of Bay’s defensive efforts in the first half was Savy King’s improvement in the defensive third of the pitch, she was disrupting plays quite regularly which hadn’t necessarily been the case all season.

She had played well previously, but it was quite a notable improvement. Both teams got a few more opportunities prior to the end of the first half, but neither was able to score and it went to halftime with San Diego holding their 1-0 lead.

Early in the second half, Kayla Sharples nearly scored in her third straight game, however, she hit the crossbar. Luckily for Bay though, the ball fell to Oshoala who was able to put it away to tie the game at 1. In the 51st minute, Kundananji went down after some contact with Mya Jones, after a small amount of attention from the trainer she got back up and continued the game.

San Diego nearly regained the lead in the 56th minute, Doniak received a cross and a perfect header could’ve easily been a goal however Proulx was able to get right in front of it and make a save. Castellanos was down in significant pain in the 60th minute, however, despite a small limp, she was able to carry on.

Oshoala had a tremendous individual effort in the 63rd minute, as a Wave defender was waiting for the ball to go out for a goal kick, Oshoala got past her. She then took the ball, ran past another defender, and got a shot off that was blocked by Hanna Lundkvist.

In the 73rd minute, the Wave got a scoring chance off of a corner when a volley was seemingly going over the net but it had an absurd amount of spin on it, which caused it to bounce off the crossbar and back into play but Bay FC were able to clear the ball. In the 75th, Oshoala went down after being clipped by an opposing player’s leg.

She was waving desperately at the bench from the ground, which is certainly a scary sight for Bay supporters. She walked off the pitch under her own power but did not look comfortable at all. After the match, both Oshoala and Montoya confirmed that she was just cramping and is expected to be available on Wednesday.

The Waves took a 2-1 lead after a FC Barcelona-esque passing play which was finished off by Jaedyn Shaw. After the goal, Montoya substituted Oshoala out in favor of Princess. Just a few moments later, Bailey was fouled by Colaprico who was already on a yellow card, giving Bay FC a dangerous free kick with time starting to run out.

The short passing play between Joelle Anderson and Boade would quickly be broken up, leading to a corner which also would fail to convert. Boade almost tied it up in the 85th minute following a great pass by Princess, however, the shot went well over the goal.

Bay FC was buzzing as 90 minutes came to an end, they had seven minutes of stoppage time to tie it up but so far they’d struggled to beat the keeper despite quite a bit of pressure. Bailey nearly did just that after a shot from Sharples but she was tripped up in the box and the ball trickled out of play for a corner which nothing came out of.

Montoya then sent Sharples up front as a center forward to try to get on the end of headers, certainly an interesting strategy that had the potential to pay off. She created a few chances and nearly scored a couple of times but was unable to convert on those chances.

Bay had quite a few close calls, but they were unable to score a second goal of the night and when the final whistle blew, it was a 2-1 win for San Diego.