Bay FC’s comeback bid falls just short in battle of NWSL expansion teams

Racheal Kundananji, fresh off representing Zambia at the Paris Olympics, scored in the 83rd minute, but Bay FC’s comeback bid fell just short in a 2-1 road loss to the Utah Royals on Friday night.

In a battle of NWSL expansion teams, Bay FC conceded two goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and then played catchup the remainder of the match. Bay FC (6-11-0) couldn’t find an equalizer despite having 19 shots against the Royals (3-11-3) before an announced crowd of 14,539 in Sandy, Utah. It was the first league match for both teams after a six-week Olympic break.

“This one hurts,” Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya said following the match. “I mean, they all hurt, but this one that we deserved more than than what we got.”

Despite the loss, Bay FC maintained its hold on the eighth and final NWSL playoff spot. The squad has seven more regular-season games remaining, including matches against fifth-place Portland, ninth-place Louisville, sixth-place North Carolina and first-place Orlando in the coming weeks. But first, Bay FC will play an exhibition against FC Barcelona Femení on Tuesday night at PayPal Park.

Friday’s match was the team’s first league game since its 3-0 loss to the Washington Spirit on July 6. The team beat Mexico’s Club América 2-1 on Aug. 2 in a Summer Cup match.

Both teams attempted eight shots on goal in a scoreless first half.

Bay FC had six first-half corner kicks and had a chance to grab an early lead in the 13th minute of the match. Kundananji pounced on a loose ball off a Utah corner kick that started a Bay FC counterattack. Kundananji played Tess Boade into space as she made a run down the right side, but Boade’s shot rolled just wide of the left post.

Utah went ahead three minutes into the second half on a long-distance strike from Paige Monaghan, and then went up 2-0 on an own goal just six minutes later.

Kundananji headed in Rachel Hill’s cross to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 83rd minute. It was her third goal of the season. Bay FC nearly found the game-tying goal in waning seconds of second-half stoppage time, but had its final shot of the match cleared off the goal line.

The Royals are are now undefeated in three straight games and have climbed from the bottom of the league standings. Two of their three league wins have come against Bay FC, including a 1-0 win in San Jose in mid-June.

“Now we just got to get right back at it,” Montoya said. “But as I’ve always said, with this team, we like to make it difficult and make it harder on ourselves, but we some somehow find a way, and I know they will.”