Bay FC shocks Angel City FC with 1-0 victory
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, Bay FC played an inspiring, if also chaotic, brand of soccer as it knocked off Angel City FC 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 star who was twice nominated as a Ballon d'Or Award finalist during her historic run in Europe, scored Bay FC's first 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, blasting it off the inside of the crossbar and narrowly finding the netting for a 1-0 lead.
“I looked back to make sure I wasn't offside just to make sure I could go celebrate,” she said. “L.A. 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 8) and triple the corner kicks (12 to 4). But Bay FC's organized defensive shape and Liverpool-style of high-pressing soccer made it difficult for Angel City to break through.
“The soccer gods were with us,” said Bay FC 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 at 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 fast-break opportunities.
Dydasco, the right back, saved a goal in the 90th minute when a short-range shot from Angel City sneaked past goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx and creeped toward the goal line. But Dydasco got to it just in time and booted it out of the danger area.
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.”
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 keeper 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 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, tying the record for goalkeepers 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 Real 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.
Boade often found herself in good positions, but struggled to put away chances. She wasted a golden secondhalf opportunity off the foot of King, who split four defenders with a miraculous pass that found Boade for a wide-open look in the penalty area. Boade hit her shot directly at ACFC keeper 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.”
Bay FC will travel to Washington to play against the Spirit on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.