What started last April, with four American women’s soccer legends trying to bring the sport back to the Bay Area, came to an exciting climax on Sunday when Bay FC beat Angel City FC, 1-0, in its inaugural game.
Playing for the first time as an expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Bay FC played an inspiring, if also chaotic brand of football as it knocked off a quality Angel City side in Los Angeles.
“We just wanted to enjoy ourselves, have fun and work with each other, and that’s what we did,” said striker Asisat Oshoala. “We worked for each other. That’s what we’ll do until we get it right.”
Oshoala, a Barcelona legend who was twice nominated as a Ballon d’Or Award finalist during her historic run in Europe, scored Bay FC’s first-ever goal with a memorable strike in the 17th minute.
Veteran right back Caprice Dydasco created a turnover in the attacking third and poked it to winger Tess Boade, who found Oshoala streaking through the penalty area. Oshoala took a one-time shot and blasted it upper-90, slamming the ball off the inside of the crossbar that narrowly found netting for Bay FC’s first-ever goal.
Asisat Oshoala writes her name in the history books, scoring the very first NWSL goal for @wearebayfc pic.twitter.com/t09aOiuEJl
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 18, 2024
“I looked back to make sure I wasn’t offside just to make sure I could go celebrate,” she said. “LA is one of the favorites to win the league and being 1-0 against them gave us a lot of confidence.”
The final stat line will show Angel City held almost 60% of the possession and created double the shots (16 to eight) and triple the corner kicks (12 to four). But Bay FC’s organized defensive shape and Liverpool-style of high-pressing football made it difficult for Angel City to break through.
“The soccer gods were with us,” said head coach Albertin Montoya. “Our players believed in it. Sometimes you get that when you have that extra motivation to do something special.”
Savy King, the No. 2 overall pick in January’s draft, was outstanding in her professional debut as a left back. She didn’t lose a single one-on-one duel and often stepped into gaps to cut off passing lanes and create key interceptions.
“She was world class,” Montoya said.
The veteran center back pairing of Emily Menges and Kayla Sharples were lockdown defenders for 90 minutes, holding an organized back line that never got beat through the middle and routinely recovered to disrupt fastbreak opportunities.
Dydasco, the right back, saved a goal in the 90th minute when a short-range shot from Angel City snuck passed goalie Lysianne Proulx and creeped toward the goal line, but Dydasco got to it just in time and booted it out of the danger area.
Caprice Dydasco LOVES an end line save! pic.twitter.com/8RxYJWZIKd
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 18, 2024
Angel City had plenty of such moments where loose balls bounced around Bay FC’s penalty area, but as much as Bay FC bent, it never broke.
“It was not the style of play we want to play,” Montoya said. “Angel City did a very good job defending us, creating problems for us. We were trying to solve them. That’s a work in progress. I told our organization and players, it’ll take time for us to dominate the ball. We want to dictate how we play but that takes time.”
Goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx had a heck of a NWSL debut. After playing professionally in Australia, Proulx joined Bay FC as the likely backup to Melissa Lowder, but Lowder suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this month, giving Proulx a chance to step into the spotlight.
A goalie for the Canadian national team, Proulx made a ridiculous save in the 35th minute as Meggie Dougherty Howard found a wide open look from the penalty marker and guided it right to the lower right corner, but Proulx poked it wide for a corner kick. She made another stunning block from point-blank range in the 51st minute.
“She was our MVP today,” Oshoala said.
Proulx, 24, finished with eight saves on the night, tying the record for goalies in their NWSL debuts.
“It was tough, we just held onto it,” Proulx said. “This win means everything.”
Oshoala was a feisty presence as the lone striker in a 4-3-3 formation that should also feature Racheal Kundananji in a few weeks. Kundananji, who came over from Madrid for a record $800,000 transfer free, is out with a knee injury but will soon slide into one of the wing positions, where Tess Boade and Scarlett Camberos played on Sunday.
Related Articles
Bay FC breaks bank with world-record transfer fee for striker Kundananji from Madrid
Bay FC just acquired one of the world’s best strikers from Barcelona
Bay FC announces full schedule for inaugural season at PayPal Park
Bay FC reveals first-ever uniforms, players already feeding off ‘culture and chemistry’
Bay FC lands UNC star Savy King and Stanford captain Maya Doms in NWSL Draft
Boade often found herself in good positions, but struggled to put away chances. She wasted a golden second-half opportunity off the foot of King, who split four defenders with a miraculous pass that found Boade with a wide open look in the penalty area. Boade hit her shot directly at goalie Angelina Anderson.
Bay FC simply held on from there, often putting 11 players behind the ball and playing a defensive game for much of the second half.
When it was all over, Oshoala bent over and kissed the grass to celebrate.
“We recognized the moment,” she said. “Sometimes you do what you need to do to win the game. That’s what happened today.”
The club will travel to Washington to play against the Spirit next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT.
Their home opener will take place on March 30 against the Houston Dash at PayPal Park.