San Jose – Bay FC’s inaugural campaign has been full of learning moments, especially tonight in their 2-0 loss to SoCal rival Angel City FC in their NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage match Friday night.
The loss knocked Bay FC out of contention for advancing in the tournament after their 3-1 loss at the San Diego Wave FC last Saturday. They will conclude their tournament play against Club América next Friday night at PayPal Park, their first matchup against the Mexican side that plays in Liga MX Femenil (Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m.).
“Angel City had a great performance today and they were just the better team,” Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya said. “They kind of rose and we dropped the level, and that’s where it created all sorts of problems for us.”
Angel City grabbed the opening goal off Bay FC defender Dorian Bailey, who had the ball deflected off her and into the back of the net at the far post following a free kick into the middle of the box. ACFC doubled their lead and sealed the win in the 54th minute off a goal from Claire Emslie, who took in a pass from Messiah Bright and fired it into the bottom corner of the net.
Bay FC struggled to gain any true momentum through the night, but they grabbed the opening goal themselves in the opening minutes. Still, unable to find the back of the net – two chances of which were at the left post by Caroline Conti in the first three minutes of the match.
Deyna Castellanos tried to take a shot from distance in the 10th minute to chip ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson who strayed outside of her 18-yard box, but the shot went just wide of the post.
“That’s football for you,” said Montoya. “We had those opportunities and we still put that away. Then we had our own goal, and for whatever reason, which is something I don’t see very often from this team, we were just a little deflated.
At times we hit lulls and we’re quiet,” defender Kayla Sharples said.
Montoya added that he and the club aren’t focused solely on results throughout the Summer Cup. After back-to-back losses, and rather that they’re using the tournament to see what he has in terms of depth in the roster heading into the second half of the NWSL season which restarts on Friday, August 23 when the club travels to take on Utah Royals FC.
The club is currently hanging onto the eighth and final playoff spot with 18 points in the table at 6-10-0 through the first 16 matches.
“We said we want to get minutes and playing time to some of our younger players that haven’t gotten the experience,” said Montoya. “There’s no better way than going out here and playing an excellent team just like last week when they played San Diego.
I know we’re going to make the playoffs. We’re going to need every single player to make a difference. So, the fact that they have these opportunities, this is excellent for the Summer Cup, at least for us and how we’re looking at it.”
Rookie Savy King made her Summer Cup debut on the night and was one of five rookies to play on the night.
“At the end of the day, I’m 19, and I’m still really young,” King said. “There’s a lot to learn, so everything’s just a learning experience for me.
“For us, (the season) has kind of been just rolling with the punches. We’ve gone through a lot this season.” Sharples added that despite the results, the club is still in contention.
We’re finding our way,” she explained. “We’re not performing our best and we’re not getting all the results that we want. Yet, we’re still in playoff contention and that just goes to show that we’re still in this and we still have a lot to prove. But by no means are we out of the race.”
Photos by Jeff Weisinger
