Bay FC mounts late comeback, falls to Washington Spirit in front of record crowd at Oracle Park

SAN FRANCISCO — Bay FC put up a good fight in the second half, but it was unable to catch up to the Washington Spirit in the two teams’ showcase game at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

In front of an NWSL-record announced crowd of 40,091 fans, Bay FC fell down three goals but rallied to make a game of it late. Kelli Hubly’s second-half goal gave Bay FC hope, but Washington hung on to win 3-2.

Washington (9-4-4) built its first-half lead with goals by Kate Wiesner and Croix Bethune, plus an own goal by Hubly in stoppage time.

Racheal Kundananji responded with Bay FC’s first goal even later in stoppage time, a header in the fifth minute of added time that gave Bay FC needed hope heading into the halftime break.

Then Hubly really gave Bay FC’s record home crowd a reason to believe in the 54th minute, heading home a corner kick from Alyssa Malonson to bring Bay FC within a goal.

Bay FC (4-8-5) generated a number of late chances and was generally on the front foot for the rest of the game, but the hosts were unable to equalize and reward their home fans with a result.

Check back for updates to this story.