From being strangers who became teammates to building relationships on and off the pitch, Bay FC has been breaking records in their inaugural season.
The club fought until the end of the regular season to clinch their spot and advanced to the 2024 playoffs. After defeating Houston Dash in Houston on November 2nd, Bay FC not only secured their spot but also ended up in seventh place in the league standings.
Bay FC recorded 11 wins- 6 on the road- breaking the most wins in a regular season by an expansion team in league history. The club also recorded 31 regular season goals, the second most by an expansion team.
The club ended their run after being defeated by the Washington Spirit 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Forward Asisat Oshoala scored the lone goal for Bay FC and made history once again. Oshoala was the first player to score for the club on March 17th against Angel City and was the first to score in the playoffs.
The 2024 NWSL season closed for Bay FC with a record of 11 wins, 14 losses, and one draw in regular season play. Although the season came to an end sooner than the club hoped for, head coach Albertin Montoya reflects on the big wins that the team had in their first season at a season-ending news conference Wednesday. “It takes a lot to bring a group together in such a short amount of time and get to understand each other and get the best of all the players and the staff,” Montoya said.
Montoya shared how it takes time for players and staff to connect. “The fact that it took about six – seven months for us to really figure out you know how to get the most out of each other goes a long way,” said Montoya.
Technical director, Matt Potter shared his approach during the offseason by saying, “it’s just a natural part this time of the year to think about what went well, how can we improve, and what does that look like so there’s a lot of moving pieces.”
Co-captain and defender Emily Menges shared her sentiment about being a part of the expansion team by saying she was, “exceptionally proud.” Menges added, “The relationships we’ve been able to form so quickly and the end of the season that we had, the run that we had, we shocked everybody, and I think that’s something that we could be really proud of.”
Co-captain and midfielder Tess Boade added that she shared the same sentiment as Menges and said, “There’s an aspect of us that’s so proud of all that we accomplished and totally over-achieved from what expansion teams are expected to do and then there’s the aspect of us that we all want to be the best and feel like we just missed and could’ve done better so I feel like that leaves us with a little bit of fire in offseason and probably more excited than most teams to get back after it in a couple months.”
Now that Bay FC is in their first offseason, the players can’t wait for the 2025 season to commence. “The players, the staff, everyone involved is really looking forward to the next season with high hopes,” said Montoya.
To stay up to date on the club, follow @wearebayfc on social media. Season tickets for the 2025 season at PayPal Park are now available at BayFC.com.
