Bay FC concede late equalizer in 2-2 draw with Dash

SAN JOSE — The second half of the season started off on a bittersweet note for Bay FC.

Sophie Schmidt scored the equalizing goal off of a corner kick in the 88th minute to take away two additional points from Bay FC and earned a point for the Houston Dash in a 2-2 draw on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.

Delanie Sheehan crossed the ball into the middle of the box where an unmarked Schmidt headed the ball into the back of the net past Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz for her first goal of the season that hushed the vocal crowd of 15,002 at the Triple P. The play wasn't without a bit of controversy. Bay FC center back Kelli Hubly was kicked in the head on the previous play and was down on the pitch for a while. She was forced to head to the sideline for examination before she could re-enter the match. It proved to be the break Houston needed as they scored on that ensuring corner kick.

"Someone kneed me in the head," said Hubly when asked about her health after the game. "I don't know if it was Joe (Joelle Anderson) or someone on the other team. I was trying to get on the field. I was like are you going to let me in or not? I don't know the rules when it comes to head injuries. It's kind of frustrating because I am somebody that's in the box that's a big presence in the air and I think we missed that in that moment. I think if I was on the field, it would be a different story."

Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya switched up his lineup as he had rookie midfielder Taylor Huff up front as a striker along with Penelope Hocking and Rachel Kundandanji who made her first start since returning from the Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament where she played for her native Zambia. The lineup change created a high press that Houston had trouble containing especially in the opening 45 minutes.

Hocking continued to her sizzling goal streak in the 16th minute. Kundananji, who gave Dash defenders fits the entire night, dribbled in from the right wing before crossing the ball over to Hocking who perfectly one-timed the ball out of the air into an open net for her team leading fifth goal of the season. Hocking has scored a goal in consecutive league matches and fourth consecutive in all competitions including the two friendlies back in July against Angel City FC and the Urawa Red Diamonds.

Bay FC kept Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell on her toes in the first half with numerous scoring chances. If not for Campbell the scoreboard would have had a crooked number showing. In the 28th minute, Campbell stoned a point-blank header from Kundananji. Then in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half, Campbell made a diving save on Huff's 25-yard left footed shot as her team was lucky to have closed out the half only down a goal despite being outplayed by the home team.

In the second half, it looked like Bay FC was going to put the game away with two early chances. In the 50th minute, a shot from Hannah Bebar from inside the box found its way into the hands of Campbell who squashed any chance of a rebound. Then bad luck struck for Kundananji in the 54th minute when she raced down the left wing with the ball and deked out a Dash defender inside the box before her right footed shot attempt hit off the far-right post and bounced off the goal line and out of bounds for a goal kick. It would not be the last time "Rudy" was snakebit in the match.

Houston regrouped and found paydirt in the 72nd minute. Avery Patterson possessed the ball down the right wing before finding Kiki Van Zanten with a cross inside the box to the left of the goal. Van Zanten one-timed the ball into the back of the net past Silkowitz for her first goal of the season. Up to that point, it was all Bay FC as the Dash resuscitated itself back into the match.

Bay FC didn't give Houston much time enjoy their first goal of the match as they answered back two minutes later. Hocking started the attack as she dribbled inside the box before finding wingback Alyssa Malonson near the goal line. Malonson crossed the ball over the middle to a crashing Huff who one-timed the ball with her right foot into an open net as she sailed in unmarked for her first career professional goal.

"It means a lot to score my first professional goal at home in front of amazing fans," said Huff. "I think they were great tonight and added a lot to the momentum of us. I'm thankful for my teammates who have kind of just pushed me each and every day. It's been a long road to get here and to get my first professional goal in front of the fans and for my team was great."

Kundananji had a second chance to extend Bay's lead to a two-goal lead when Tess Boade found her with a pass down the left wing. Kundananji's shot attempt this time hit the left post as she continued to stay stuck on one goal so far this season despite being one of the league leaders in shot attempts.

"You can see her, she creates something out of nothing," said Montoya glowingly on having Kundananji back in the lineup. "And has that energy that mentality when she's working as hard as that as she did today, everyone feeds off of that right. So that energy is really infectious, and we're delighted to have her back."

Even though his team conceded a late goal in the 88th minute for the second match in a row against Houston in the exact same manner with one of his players off on the sideline when the equalizer was scored back on May 24th in Houston, Montoya, the ever optimist, believes his squad is on the verge of converting the scoring chances they have earned going forward as Bay FC attempts to get into the top eight in the NWSL standings.

"When we create so many quality chances, it hurts (to have not come away with a win) but at the same time, there are so many positives. Obviously, I wasn't happy just because the team played well. They deserved more right. And we needed to tighten up a couple of things defensively. So, it's one where you want more for them because they played their hearts out and they created opportunities. They created really good opportunities, and it was just off by a little bit," Montoya iterated.

GAMES NOTES

Bay FC sit in 10th place in the NWSL with 16 points on the season and are three points behind the eighth and final playoff spot currently held by the North Carolina Courage and Gotham FC who are both tied with 19.