Bay FC set historical attendance record in loss to Spirit

SAN FRANCISCO — Over 40,000 fans came out to celebrate women's professional soccer during a picturesque day in the City by the Bay.

Dubbed "The Show", Bay FC and the Washington Spirit of the NWSL played the first women's professional sporting event on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. It was a historic moment not only for being the first women's professional event to be play at the baseball ballpark, but the match set an unprecedented attendance record in the process.

Saturday’s attendance of 40,091 fans sets a new record for any NWSL match, surpassing the previous record of 35,038 fans in attendance for Bay FC vs. Chicago Stars FC at Wrigley Field June 8, 2024. The sellout also represented the highest-attended game in any U.S. professional women’s league, across all sports.

The Washington Spirit did their part to help spoil the party in the Bay Area as they scored three goals in the first half, only to hold on by the skin of their teeth in the final moments of the match to defeat Bay FC 3-2 as they improved their record to 9-4-4-31 points and jump up to number two spot in the NWSL standings. Bay FC, in suffering the tough luck loss remained at 17 points (4-8-5) four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot currently held by Gotham FC.

Spirit fullback Kate Wiesner sent a cross into the middle that quickly shot passed Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz, who expected her backline to clear the ball out of the area as she stayed frozen at her spot, into the back of the net in the seventh minute of the match as Washington dominated play in the opening 45 minutes.

A controversial play led to the Spirit's second of the first half at the 39th minute. Taylor Huff was apparently fouled after a sliding tackle by Gabrielle Carle as played went on. Hal Hershfelt collected the ball and fed it out to Croix Bethune who dribbled down the middle, right past a Bay FC defender and deposited a shot past Silkowitz into the far corner of the net for her first goal since last season.

Just when it couldn't get worse for Bay FC, in the second minute of stoppage time, U.S. Women's National Team star Trinity Rodman sent a cross into the middle from the left side of the box. Bay FC center back Kelli Hubly unfortunately hit the ball off of her foot, in a clearing attempt, into the back of the net for an own goal and a 3-0 lead for Washington.

The crowd finally had something to cheer about at the end of the first half as Rachael Kundananji got Bay FC on the board just over two minutes later. Caroline Conti sailed in a free kick from 30 yards out into the middle of box where "Rudie" deposited a running header past Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury into the left corner of the net for Kundananji's second goal of the season.

Bay FC carried the momentum of Kundananji's goal into the second half as they controlled possession for the first 10 minutes. Bay FC captain Rachel Hill attempted a right-footed shot from inside the box in the 54th minute only to have Kingsbury make a leaping one-handed save over the net. On the ensuring corner kick, Alyssa Malonson sent the ball into the middle and Hubly used her height and position to head the ball into the back of the net, avenging for her own goal back in the first half as Bay FC cut the Spirit's lead to one-goal.

The home team had one final chance to score the equalizer in the sixth minute of stoppage time when they received a corner kick. Silkowitz came all the way up from her own goal to give Bay FC a man advantage up front. The kick was knocked away by Washington. However, Caprice Dydasco collected the ball just near the box and centered a pass to Silkowitz who headed the ball toward the net only to have Kingsbury make a falling down save to ensure the three points for the visiting team.

The end result was secondary as both teams gave the 40,000 plus spectators exactly what they came for, a show. Both teams generated quality chances throughout the match, and the final minutes of stoppage time provided the excitement that had fans on the edge of their seats. The crowd never wavered their support from start to finish as they waved flags given to them as they entered the gates and were loud and boisterous for all 90 minutes.

"I thought players on both sides really enjoyed their football, the fans were amazing and really supported our team and that helped us through the entire game," said Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya. "When you're down three goals you can go either direction, and credit to all the players, they never stopped fighting, they believed in each other, we were knocking on the door. Today was incredible, and the players deserved it. This league has come such a long way, and when you get football like that, I think every person who watched this game can say 'Hey, I'd do this again'."

Conti expressed how she was able to take in everything from the moment the team walked out of the dugout during pregame to Kundananji's goal that gave back the momentum and got the crowd into the game.

"We get the chance to walkout onto the field before the game, and I feel a bunch of us got to do that. Just to the feel the atmosphere even before the fans were there, I think that was really important just to get grounded on where we were. Obviously, it's a different venue, but it was so cool. Then during the game, I think my moment was when Rudie (Kundananji) scored. You could hear everyone cheering and chanting for us. It was like they had our back that we were going to get the next one," Conti said.

When asked if there was a specific moment for Montoya that stood out on the historic day, the Bay Area native could not pinpoint to one and hoped his squad was fully able to enjoy the moment. Montoya did admit to how special of a day it was for the entire region and not just specific cities packed the ballpark to celebrate a women's professional league match when he remembered coaching in the final of the WPS league more than 20 years ago when there were less than 4,000 spectators that attended that match.

"For me not so much, but I hope our players did," said Montoya with a quick laugh before carrying on. "I thought they had a very good performance. So we talked about the game. I touched on 'yeah enjoy this'. I mentioned how we made history. The fans saw a really good game. So a credit to them. A credit to the fans, a credit to our players. I think I might enjoy it once this is done and I go walk out there (on the pitch) and just kind of soak it all in. Because it is a special day, it really is. And the support that we had made it that much better for everyone involved."

Bay FC is back in action September 1st, Labor Day, for a visit to Angel City FC. Kickoff from BMO Stadium in Los Angeles is set for 6:00pm. The club will return home September 6 when first-place Kansas City Current visits the Bay Area for the first time this season, kicking off a stretch of three home matches in four weeks.