Bay FC falls to San Diego as Wave scores late

Bay FC scored an equalizer just after halftime and pushed for a winning goal in San Diego Saturday night, but ended up on the wrong side of a deciding goal themselves, losing 2-1 to the Wave.

Substitute forward Jaedyn Shaw slid a cross from Elyse Bennett into the net in the 78th minute on a transition rush from San Diego. At the time, Bay FC had only 10 players on the field because forward Asisat Oshoala, who had scored earlier, was being evaluated for a leg injury.

“We could have made a substitution at the time but she was ready to go back in the game and she’s still a huge presence for us up top, so I didn’t necessarily want to take her out at that time,” coach Albertin Montoya said.

After the goal, Montoya changed his mind and brought Princess Marfo on for Oshoala, seeking fresh legs to chase a late tying goal that never came despite 13 second-half shots. Oshoala said postgame that she was OK.

It's Jaedyn Shaw's world, and we're just living in it pic.twitter.com/EeaS0wtv3D

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 28, 2024

Central defender Emily Menges took responsibility for San Diego’s second goal as Shaw beat her to the front of the net to finish off a crisp Wave attack. Menges said she saw strides from her team, which was playing for the first time since central midfielder and captain Alex Loera suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“We worked a lot this week on team defending. I think we saw huge progress there,” Menges said.

Oshoala equalized for Bay FC in the 48th minute when she drove a rebound off the crossbar into the back of the San Diego net. The play developed after a Bay FC corner and Kayla Sharples’ header off the bar left the Wave defense out of position to defend Oshoala’s shot.

Makenzy Doniak of San Diego opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a right-footed rocket at the edge of the box past goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx into the left corner.

“It hurts because I think the team deserved better,” Montoya said. “They played well, they earned it, but you know, there’s just little things that we need to continue to improve on.”

Bay FC’s next game is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at home against the Portland Thorns.