SAN JOSE, Calif. – It was collusion, plain as day. A conspiratorial collection of events aimed at hijacking this moment. An atmospheric heist at PayPal Park.
The weather was antagonistic: intense cold complemented by ominous gray clouds, hints of rain falling like threats as the storm loomed on the horizon. Then the head referee was on one. Eventually, the Houston Dash joined in the hateful festivities.
But everything failed. The home opener for Bay FC, the National Women’s Soccer League’s glamorous new expansion team, would be sure to be full of jubilation. The importance and spirit of the evening were too strong for attempts to disrupt. It was too long to prepare, too expensive to waste, too significant to miss.
Saturday night belonged to Bay FC. To American women’s football and to this area so vital to its history and growth. The occasion imbued with the legacy of World Cups past, the mojo of the CyberRays’ former glory, for the pure Gold Pride of the region.
“When you think about it, you have to think about the four founders,” said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, referring to the serious faces of Bay FC, Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner.
“It was really their vision. Their vision of bringing professional women’s soccer to the Bay Area, knowing the connectivity – not just with women’s soccer but also at the colleges here – and how they knew the community would be incredibly supportive. … I think it’s clear that women’s professional soccer belongs in the Bay Area.
Time did not stop this brilliance. This only added to the motivation to stockpile Bay FC hoodies and scarves. An early yellow card, or even a penalty awarded after VAR review, only galvanized the Bay Area’s new legion of fanatics.
Even Houston’s second-half surge that handed Bay FC a 3-2 defeat – capped by Havana Solaun’s perfect, defiant ball into the bottom left corner, the game-winning goal in the 10th minute of overtime – didn’t not enough to kill the summit of the evening.
The ticket booths at the entrance to the stadium were closed and displayed “SOLD OUT” signs. Thousands of people lined up before the doors opened at 5 p.m., and thousands more waited even longer to get food and merchandise.
At the 7 p.m. kick-off, the venue could accommodate 18,000 people. This is the largest crowd for a women’s professional club soccer game in Bay Area history, topping 16,174 at Spartan Stadium on July 16, 2001, when the Bay Area CyberRays hosted Washington Freedom by Mia Hamm. Everyone understood the mission.
Many in the building tonight remember the days of the Women’s United Soccer Association and the first home opener in 2001 of the CyberRays, a team featuring Chastain as a star along with LaKeysia Beene and Brazilians Katia and Sissi. Some, no doubt, were among the five thousand or so in attendance at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward when FC Gold Pride – featuring Marta, then the best in the world, and Team USA’s Shannon Boxx – went out in trombe, winning the 2010 Women’s Championship. Professional football title and entry of this team into the conversation of the greatest women’s teams of all time.
It looked like the third stage of women’s professional soccer in the Bay Area. It was like this special night was piling on top of special nights past. An unspoken but understood challenge was felt. This passion seemed, at least in part, a declaration that this time would be different. A categorical refusal to let the fate of this team end like the previous two.
This silent pact crystallized when Bay FC forward Asisat Oshoala’s 19th-minute shot into the box was blocked right at the feet of midfielder Deyna Castellanos, and she ripped it home from the top left corner off the post and into the net for the first home goal. of this new era. The roar was loud enough to hold back the storm.
A moment that the Bay will always remember. 🏹 @deynac18 brand first @NWSL objective for #BayFC in the 19th minute of our home opener of the inaugural season.#BAYvHOU #BLegendary #WeCameToPlay pic.twitter.com/A9xMAMPOpx
– Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) March 31, 2024
“So it felt like a victory before the match, during the match, because of the fans,” Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya told reporters after the match. He seemed a little choked up. It is logical that the wave of love which animates his team touches him. He was part of the CyberRays coaching staff in 2003 and was the head coach of the championship team Gold Pride. And he was an assistant coach at Santa Clara and Stanford, two epicenters of women’s soccer in the Bay Area.
“Over eighteen thousand – we haven’t seen that in the Bay Area. Never,” Montoya said. “The last time we had a team here and I was coaching, we probably had 2,000, 3,000 max. It’s surreal. Energy. The excitement. All the young players look up to these stars.
It was the symbolic victory of the evening. This movement has not need a victory. Because this is not a chance cosmic alignment. This is a $125 million investment in a growing entity with a quarter-century of data and history. This is not a desperate attempt to trigger a wave, as was the case in 2000, but the Bay’s legitimate turn to ride a wave that continues to intensify.
The Bay Area hasn’t launched this particular pitch party, as it has in the past, but it’s a trend to host it.
Bay FC serves as a booster for the NWSL, which has survived its share of adversity to reach this promising point. The $53 million expansion fee paid by Bay FC — courtesy of its primary backer, Sixth Street Partners, a global investment firm based in San Francisco — is a game-changer for the ever-expanding (and even for the WNBA). Nine months after the Bay FC deal was announced, the Portland Thorns were sold for $63 million. Two months later, the San Diego Wave sold for $120 million.
Bay FC have set a world record by paying almost $800,000 for the transfer fee of Madrid CFF striker Racheal Kundananji. This was just the latest move in a total commitment to make this work. From stellar products to board members with elite experience, it’s a choreographed assault.
Bay FC only had eight months to take off. But that was after decades of fermentation. The sweetness of now ancient glories, seasoned with the bitterness of failures, simmered in the conviction of what is possible here.
“They obviously had a relatively short runway to get up and running,” said Berman, the commissioner, “but they resourced the team appropriately and really galvanized the community in the right way. … I think there’s an incredible future here.”
“What you see happening,” Berman continued, “is a collective recognition that investing in women’s soccer is an investment proposition. … Women’s sports have reached this inflection point. This turning point is is produced. This is certainly not an isolated moment. It’s a movement that’s happening across our entire industry.
This was very clear when Kundananji punctuated the night. Pushing to the right side, she returned to the middle. With space to do her job, she planted and struck an impeccable ball with her left foot. There was enough air underneath him to escape defenders in the box, and still enough speed and curvature to get around the keeper. It nestled beautifully inside the left post, tying the score at 2 in the third minute of extra time.
I will always remember this day @KKundananji did it @NWSL And #BayFC beginnings with a purpose 💥#BLegendary #WeCameToPlay
– Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) March 31, 2024
Kundananji picked up a Zambian flag from the sideline and ran onto the field, continuing the fervor in the stadium.
It was a display of scoring excellence from the most expensive player in women’s football. It was also a down payment on a guarantee of future brilliance, funded by investment in the Bay Area’s community fervor for football, for women, for innovation, for community.
It doesn’t matter what goal the defense would allow in seven minutes. Professional women’s soccer is back in the Bay Area. Nothing was going to kill those vibes.
(Photo of Bay FC celebrating Deyna Castellanos’ first-half goal Saturday: Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos/Getty Images)