SAN DIEGO - In their fifth-ever head-to-head meeting, San Diego Wave FC fell to Bay FC 1-0 at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday afternoon in front of 13,500 on Kids Night. Despite coming off of two consecutive losses, Bay FC (3-3-0) played well defensively against Wave’s typically strong scorers Lia Godfrey and Dudinha. The Wave (5-3-0), ranked third and coming off of a loss against Portland Thorns FC, had their five-game winning streak broken on Wednesday and were looking to come back in Sunday’s game with a home-field win. Notably, it was their third game in a week.
Bay’s Racheal Kundananji scored the first goal of the match in the fifth minute, assisted by Taylor Huff. Two yellow cards followed for Bay, in the 11th and 15th minutes.
In the 17th minute, Dali took a penalty kick which was saved by Bay goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz. Silkowitz went on to save two more in the first half and four in the second, keeping the Wave scoreless for the entire match. After the penalty kick, a fairly quiet first half followed, though Bay received their third yellow card in the 43rd minute. Wave had possession of the ball roughly 56% of the half, with two shots on goal, four fouls to Bay’s eight, one corner kick, and one save by goalkeeper Didi Haracic.
“I think they're a really talented team,” southern California native Kennedy Wesley said after the match. “They have a really good structure in what they want to do, and they definitely made it difficult for us. I think at the end of the day, our level of technical execution as a group wasn't exactly where we wanted it to be… We still know who we are, know that we can stick to our identity moving forward, and find success next week.”
The second half started off with three yellow cards, one for Bay and two for San Diego. Dudinha and Pele Morroni were both shown yellow cards in the 54th and 59th minute, respectively.
Perle Morroni eyeing Bay FC. Miguel Mejia/Miguel Mejia Photography
“It's hard when you have three games in a row,” Brazilian native Dudinha shared. “We have a lot of players that go to the national teams. It's complicated for the physicality, for the conditional aspect, but this is not an excuse.”
Kimmi Ascanio, Melanie Barcenas, and Gia Corley all entered the match in the 65th minute, which showcased San Diego’s persistent offensive efforts. San Diego had four more shots on goal, nine fouls to Bay’s three, three more corner kicks, and one additional save by Haracic.
The last ten minutes were tense. In the 86th minute, Wave FC’s head coach Jonas Eidevall was ejected with a red card after showing frustration and “abusive language.” The ref stopped play when the Wave were moving forward into the attacking third, desperately trying to tie the game. He was absent from the post-game press conference, and Wave coaching staff declined to comment on the incident. Following the red card, in a last push for a tie, Corley attempted to score and Barcenas attempted twice.
Melanie Barcenas in a last minute attempt at a goal. Miguel Mejia/Miguel Mejia Photography
“We don't want to come away from that just because of a goal [in the beginning],” assistant coach Becky Tweed said. “There were moments tonight where it did look like the third match of the week, it did look a little bit tired, and I think that can sometimes affect your decision-making or your technical execution… Every lesson that we learn from tonight we're taking to the rest of the season.”
San Diego will face Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on Saturday. Angel City is 3-3-0 and have lost their last three games. San Diego is 2-3-3 historically against Angel City. Watch the match at 5:45 p.m. on ION.
Top photo: Dudinha in an offensive battle. Miguel Mejia/Miguel Mejia Photography
