May 2, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Bay FC News Release
San Jose, Calif. – Playing their first game of a two-game homestand, Bay FC fell behind 2-0 early in the first half against Portland Thorns FC. Bay FC answered with a goal at the end of the first half to make it a 2-1 scoreline and leveled the match in the 60th minute, but Portland found the game-winning goal in the 78th minute to sneak past Bay FC 3-2 at PayPal Park on Wednesday night.
Portland scored goals in the second and seventh minute of the match to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Bay FC answered back to make it 2-1 with a late first-half goal through Racheal Kundananji as Joelle Anderson notched her team-leading second assist of the 2024 season. The goal was the second of Kundananji’s Bay FC career.
Continuing to push, Bay FC leveled the match in the 60th minute as Kundananji became the first player in Bay FC history to register a goal and an assist in the same match. Making a mazy run down the right side of the field, Kundananji delivered the finishing pass to Deyna Castellanos, who leveled the score at 2-2 with her second goal of the 2024 season. Bay FC searched to find the game winner, outshooting Portland by a margin of 12-4 in the second half, while also controlling the game with 63 percent of the possession, but Thorns FC found a late winner through Sophia Smith in the 78th minute.
Goal-Scoring Plays
POR – Payton Linnehan (Sophia Smith), 2nd minute: Sophia Smith picked up the ball just outside the box and dribbled toward goal. She played the ball out on the left wing to Payton Linnehan who found space inside the box on the left side and fired a shot from a tight angle inside the near post.
POR – Sophia Smith (Payton Linnehan), 7th minute: Against the run of play, Linnehan slotted a through ball into space behind the Bay FC backline. Smith made a run into space, finding herself in a one-on-one situation with Bay FC goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx just outside the box. Smith dribbled around Proulx and scored from close range.
BAY – Racheal Kundananji (Joelle Anderson), 41st minute: Joelle Anderson dribbled down the left wing and played a well-weighted pass into the box. Racheal Kundananji received the ball just outside the six-yard box, cut back toward the center of goal and sent a curling strike into the right side of the net.
BAY – Deyna Castellanos (Racheal Kundananji), 61st minute: Kundananji lead the break for Bay FC down the right side of the field. Kundananji cut back twice,…