Bay FC snuck into the postseason last year. Now, they want to prove they belong there

The turning point of Bay FC’s inaugural season turned out not to be an official game. 

In August, the team hosted FC Barcelona at PayPal Park for a friendly match arranged at the behest of Sixth Street, the Bay Area private equity group that simultaneously founded the National Women’s Soccer League franchise and purchased a stake in the nine-time Spanish champions. 

At that point, more than halfway through the season, things had not been going according to plan. Bay FC had lost twice as many games as it had won and was on track to finish outside of the 14-team league’s eight playoff spots. Two months prior, general manager Lucy Rushton, who assembled the team, abruptly stepped down. 

But two key developments occurred during that game against Barcelona.

One, Abby Dahlkemper, the former U.S. Women’s National Team lynchpin and Menl Park native, made her debut for Bay FC after being acquired in a midseason trade from San Diego.  

Second, the game was tied 2-2 after 70 minutes. 

“Being able to play against the best team in the world and being right there with them until the very end was a huge confidence boost for all of us,” said Bay FC midfielder Tess Boade, who cemented her role as a starter shortly thereafter. “That was what really sparked us.” 

The hosts eventually lost to the Spanish giants 5-2, but the match flipped the trajectory of their season. Bay FC won five and drew one of its last nine matches, finishing the year in 7th place. Not only did they make the playoffs but they broke the record for most points accumulated by an expansion team. 

In the playoffs, Bay FC matched up against the eventual runner-ups, the Washington Spirit, and nearly won, holding onto a 1-0 lead before conceding two late goals in stoppage and extra time. 

“We ended the season on a high note,” Boade said. “Last year, we were very hesitant to set goals because we were all so new. But this year, we are very explicit. We want to host a home playoff game.” 

At the team’s media day Tuesday, a month out from the 2025 NWSL season, several players repeated a mantra that’s been set by new sporting director Matt Potter (who previously served under Rushton) and the coaching staff: “We’re neither where we were or where we’re headed.” 

Last season, Bay FC was on track to concede the most goals of any team in the league before Dahlkemper’s arrival solidified the backline. Meanwhile, the three marquee international signings on the forward line — Asisat Oshoala, Racheal Kundananji, and Deyna Castellanos — struggled to gain traction until the home stretch. 

This season, the spine of the team is intact and has a year of experience on and off the field to lean on. “Now, we just need to find consistency,” Dahlkemper said. 

Of the 30 players on that inaugural team, 22 have returned, including journeywomen-turned-starters Boade and Alyssa Malonson, who parlayed her first consistent run of minutes into a U.S. national team call-up during the offseason. Only Castellanos, who was frozen out of the lineup by the end, terminated her contract with the team.

So far, Bay FC has made three additions: Karlie Lema, a prolific forward from Cal; Taylor Huff, an All-American midfielder from Florida State; and Kelli Hubly, a two-time NWSL Cup-winning defender, most recently of the Portland Thorns.  

This is the first season NWSL executives and players are operating under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which, on top of increased pay and benefits, eliminated trades without players’ consent and abolished the college draft. For that reason, Lema and Huff were allowed to sign with Bay FC straight from college. 

“The positive is that now we have a choice,” Huff said. “The negative side I’m seeing is that other players are having a harder time getting into the NWSL [without the draft]. Even though you weren’t guaranteed a contract back then, you still had multiple opportunities to train with the team [that selected you].” 

Hubly, who was able to test free agency for the first time in her nine-year career, said her experience playing at PayPal Park, which averaged 14,000 fans per game last year, motivated her to join Bay FC. 

“Word gets out that the club treats its players very well here,” she said. 

In order to host a playoff game this year, Bay FC will need to finish in the league’s top four. To do so, the star players have to deliver more than they did last year over the course of 26 games. Oshoala, who was signed from Barcelona, scored seven goals, while Kundananji, who briefly held the record for most expensive signing in the women’s game, chipped in five. 

Both said they are much more settled into the team and the Bay Area now, having spent their offseason in San Jose rather than returning to their respective countries. 

“Last year, coming from different leagues and cultures for the first time was tough,” Kundananji said. “But eventually, we built relationships and started to trust each other.” 

“Everyone here believes in me,” she added. “The fans, the coaches, my teammates. Now it’s just up to me to step up and deliver. I’m ready for the challengers. They know where to find me.”