Bay FC in dire straits after Royals 2-0 shutout win

SAN JOSE — The hourglass known as Bay FC’s playoffs hopes is quickly running out of sand.

The Utah Royal scored two goals early in the first half and made them stand up as they shut out Bay FC 2-0 on Saturday evening in front of 10,798 in attendance.

With the loss, Bay FC is winless in 11 straight matches and fell to 13th place in the NWSL standings 10 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot currently held by Racing Louisville FC.

Since Bay FC (4-11-7) only has four matches left with a possible 12 points on the table, they have forced themselves into a do or die situation with the four remaining matches as must wins.

Utah recorded just its second road win of the season as they jumped ahead of Bay in the standings with 21 points.

Utah drew first blood in the ninth minute. Paige Monahan found Janni Thomsen along the right wing. After a nice one touch to bring the ball down to her, Thomsen fired a low shot into the far corner of the net for her second goal of the season.

The Royals (5-11-6) doubled their lead in the 18th minute after pressuring inside Bay’s zone after a throw in. Aisha Solorzano gained control of a deflected ball inside the box. Solorzano’s first attempt was blocked by a sliding Alyssa Molanson from behind. Solorzano collected her own rebound and beat Bay FC goalkeeper with a shot into the middle of the net for his first career NWSL goal. She became the first Guatemalan to score a goal in the NWSL.

The match marked the return of striker Penelope Hocking who was on a scoring tear with five goals in seven matches. She has been out of action for the past six weeks with a lower body injury. Hocking came in as a substitute in the 66th minute replacing captain Rachel Hill.

“We were so excited, and we definitely missed Penelope,” said Bay FC wingback Caprice Dydasco. “It was so unfortunate that she got injured because she was on fire. She brings so much (to the team). It’s not only goals. She brings that feisty tenacity on the field. She’s gritty and I think we truly missed that side of our team.”

Unfortunately, the officiating, led by referee Rachel Swett, overshadowed what was an entertaining match due to Swett’s foul (and lack of foul calls on Utah) calls that were one-sided in favor of the Royals for much of the match.

“It was just the inconsistency made it very difficult,” said Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya regarding the poor performance of the officiating. “This was a big game for both teams. It was like a playoff game for the both of us. We’re fighting for a playoff spot and it would be nice to have a more experienced officiating squad in there but hey we gotta move forward.”

Bay FC players were issued three yellow cards during and two were called on the coaching staff on the sideline. Both Montoya and assistant coach Jason Goodson was issued cards. The card that will hurt the most was the one on Rachael Kundananji in the 78th minute. Kundananji has accumulated five yellow cards and will miss the team’s next match because of it.

Kundananji was visibly frustrated throughout the match due to the physicality of Utah’s backline. She had words back and forth with Royals’ fullback Kate Del Fava. Kundanananji believed she was fouled by Del Fava inside the box during play in the second half when she was pushed down by Del Fava. No foul was called on the play and there was no VAR review either.

“She (Kundananji) feels like she’s (being) targeted and that’s what frustrating for her,” Montoya said. “Because she’s playing and then what defenders do, which is part of the game, they put bodies into forwards. But anytime she does it, for the most part, she gets it, and they (officiating) don’t see the off the ball fouls.”

Despite Kundanaji’s frustration with the lack of calls against Utah’s players, the Zambian striker kept creating scoring chances for her team, including her right footed shot attempt that was stopped by Royals goalkeeper Mia Justus in the 68th minute.

Bay FC took control of the momentum early in the second half despite being down by two goals. Wingback Alyssa Malonson came within inches of cutting Utah’s lead in half in the 57th minute. Malonson headed the ball into the middle of the box from the left wing after Kundananji chipped the ball into the box. The ball floated toward the back of the net, but Justus made a diving save with her hand to sweep the ball out from the goal line.

Hocking and Kundananji had separate scoring chances in the 87th minute and 90th minute only to have Justus stonewall them and preserve her clean sheet. Bay FC had five corner kicks and a free kick in the attacking half of the zone in the 80th minute and weren’t able to cash in on any of the set pieces. It’s been a concern for a team struggling to find the back of the net.

“I think we’re getting right in there, “Hill said of her team’s lack of ability to finish off their chances. “Today the ball dropped right into the six-yard box. It’s just like getting a bounce our way or not. Just having the determination to run through the balls and get on the end of them. So yeah, we need to do a better job of getting there first and getting our head on the ball first, or when it drops getting our foot to it.”

Montoya is proud of how hard his players played throughout the entire 90 minutes of the match and their refusal to quit and just go through the motions.

“I have to give Utah a lot of credit, they were clinical in those two chances they had and that was tough for us,” said Montoya. “But the team played with so much heart and desire. It's so easy to give up in games like this when so many things are going against you, and I give them so much credit because I adore this group. They fight to the end and that's very impressive.”

Bay FC return to the pitch on Saturday October 4 to take on the Portland Thorns at 7:00pm at Providence Park.