Try as hard as they can Bay FC couldn’t run away with the ball enough as the Portland Thorns won by one goal in Wed May 1, 2024 match at Pay Pal Park in San Jose (Bay FC X photo)
By William Espy
SAN JOSE–Bay FC returned home to PayPal Park on Wednesday night to take on the Portland Thorns. Bay was looking to end a two-game losing skid while Portland was looking to extend their winning streak to three following a coaching change in the middle of April. Interim Head Coach Rob Gale has been undefeated since taking over the job after the previous coach Mike Norris was reassigned within the organization following a winless start to the season. Bay couldn’t take advantage of home field lost in a razor close game 3-2 to the Thorns.
Bay FC Starting XI: Proulx, Menges, Beattie, Malonson, Moreau, Shepard, Anderson, Bailey, Princess, Castellanos, Kundananji
Thortns Starting XI: Hogan, Klingenberg, Sauerbrunn, Hubly, Reyes, Sugita, Moultrie, Coffey, Linnehan, Beckie, Smith
Given the fact that they’re playing three games in eight days, it’s not surprising that Albertin Montoya went with a much different lineup than we saw on Saturday in San Diego. Jen Beattie, Alyssa Malonson, Maddie Moreau, Jamie Sheppard, and Princess all came into the starting lineup.
Despite some injury concerns at the end of Bay’s last match, Asisat Oshoala was available as a substitute. As were Kayla Sharples, Savy King, Caprice Dydasco, and Tess Boade amongst others. Scarlett Camberos though was not selected either as a starter or as a substitute. Portland’s lineup was also affected by this, as they’re playing a similar schedule, with three games in seven days.
Portland took the lead on their first attack of the match in just the second minute. Payton Linnehan got past the defense and was essentially one-on-one with Lysianne Proulx, the goalkeeper had no chance and it was 1-0 in favor of the visiting team.
After the ball was taken away from Moreau in midfield, a quick pass to Sophia Smith resulted in a second early goal for the Thorns, this time in the seventh minute. Despite the turnover, Moreau was playing well early on. She was heavily involved in the play and had a key takeaway that led to a strong pass upfield and almost led to a scoring chance.
For a 23-year-old playing in her second professional game, she was certainly making an impact. Notably, Joelle Anderson was taking the corners in place of Deyna Castellanos. Typically Anderson would do so once Castellanos had been substituted, but she took them from the beginning on this occasion.
As a result of their early deficit, Bay had to go for a more attacking approach early on. Their wingbacks were playing pretty high up the pitch given the fact that it was less than 20 minutes into the game, however it did lead to some potential scoring opportunities.
In the 31st minute, Bay got their best opportunity of the night so far however a shot by Castellanos would go just wide. In the 35th minute, Rachael Kundananji and Olivia Moultrie collided with one another. Both got some medical attention, causing a short delay in the game but got to their feet fairly quickly Portland nearly extended their lead to three in the 40th minute however the ball sailed just over the crossbar.
A minute later, Bay FC launched an attack down the field, it ultimately fell to Kundananji inside the box, who slipped past a defender and fired a shot that found the netting to get her team on the board before halftime. For the remainder of the half, Bay was relentless in their attack as they attempted to even it up before the break. They were unable to do so though, and at the half, it was still 2-1 with the Thorns leading.
Montoya made a substitution to start the second half, bringing Boade on for Dorian Bailey. Bay got a scoring chance right at the start of the half, however Kundananji’s shot went high and just wide. In the 50th minute, off of a corner kick the ball landed on Kundananji’s head and it went just wide after deflecting off of a defender in front.
The ensuing second corner kick wouldn’t create a strong attack though. Montoya had made a change on the set pieces though, as Castellanos was back to taking corner duties. In the 60th minute, Kundananji and Castellanos got a two-on-two rush, Kundananji carried the ball for quite a bit, into the box before passing it to Castellanos who tied the game at two a piece.
Bay nearly took the lead just a couple minutes later, a shot from Princess went into the box. The ball bounced around and Castellanos fell attempting to knock it into the net. It went out for a corner and the game remained tied for the time being.
A similar situation happened in the 71st when a Boade shot was saved by Shelby Hogan and bobbled in front of the net before a foul was called against Bay FC. After a short delay, Jen Beattie left with an injury being replaced by Kayla Sharples.
Maya Doms also entered the game replacing Anderson. Immediately afterwards, Portland once again took the lead with Smith’s second goal of the night, this time from distance.In an attempt to restore the tie, Asisat Oshoala came into the game in the 82nd minute replacing Princess.
Still trailing by one, Bay FC was given 8 minutes of stoppage time to attempt to tie it up. Following a collision with Proulx, Morgan Weaver had to be carried off the pitch due to an apparent leg injury. Due to the injury, Portland had to finish the game with ten players since they had already made all possible substitutions which gave Bay a chance.
Despite a few quality attacking opportunities, they were unable to tie it up and Bay FC’s losing streak grew to three games. The 3-2 win for Portland also extended their winning streak to three games, continuing to be undefeated since their coaching change.
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