Behind the scenes at Bay FC: Inside a vital gameday for the second-year membership

SAN JOSE — Time is working out for Bay FC.

Which is why, because the second-year NWSL membership ready for a sport towards San Diego Wave FC two weeks in the past, it was hanging to see the calm, upbeat temper of pregame preparations.

Coach Albertin Montoya meandered round from room to room, even taking a while to kick round a mini pink-and-black soccer ball with Alex Barnold, the 2-year-old son of efficiency analyst A.J. Barnold.

As staffers and younger kids alike milled about at Bay FC’s advanced at PayPal Park, the Bay Space Information Group went behind the scenes with the crew on a vital sport day to see what goes into making ready for, enjoying and recovering from a house sport within the NWSL.

Probably the most illuminating takeaway? How totally different the temper might be earlier than a sport and afterward.

Earlier than the sport, Montoya instructed BANG, “The work has been done during the week. If you’re relaxed and in a good frame of mind, it carries over to the players.”

After a hotly contested 2-1 loss, Montoya stated, “We don’t have time to put our heads down.”

Bay FC’s Jamie Shepherd, Caroline Conti, Kelli Hubly, and Joelle Anderson arrive earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Preparing

Loads goes into making ready for a soccer sport on the highest degree.

Video and information analysts mosey round making ready studies, coaches work together with crew managers and gamers arrive hours earlier than kickoff.

Montoya divides his time between the workplace – a sanctuary amid the semi-controlled chaos – and the multi-purpose house outdoors. Gamers mill about within the foyer, watching Kansas Metropolis tackle the Orlando Delight.

Ahead Racheal Kundananji takes a specific curiosity. Her fellow countrywoman, Barbra Banda, is a star for each Orlando and the Zambian nationwide crew.

Montoya emerges from the workplace house and cracks open a grapefruit Spindrift, observing the match with eager curiosity. A former striker himself, he can’t assist however react when a ahead misses a promising likelihood – even when a purpose would damage Bay FC’s place within the league standings.

Montoya takes a break from pregame preparation and makes an attempt to persuade Alex to turn out to be an Everton fan. It is a doubtful endeavor, as his father A.J. is a famous fan of rival Liverpool.

At one level, the soccer ball they’re enjoying with knocks over a stack of radios that the teaching workers will want for the sport.

Bay FC's Asisat Oshoala (8), who performed for the Nigeria Tremendous Falcons that gained the 2025 Ladies's Africa Cup of Nations, is honored at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 

There have been exterior questions on Bay FC’s crew tradition since Montoya and the membership had been investigated by the NWSL after allegations of a poisonous crew atmosphere.

Montoya was cleared by the investigation, however some stay skeptical of Bay FC’s crew vibe. Montoya acknowledged that there was room to develop from previous failures.

“When you bring everyone together, you don’t necessarily know how it’s gonna work out and who’s gonna work well with whom,” Montoya stated. “They’re all very good at what they do, but look, there were some challenges in their first year, and certain individuals didn’t see eye to eye.”

In his second 12 months in cost, Montoya feels he has a greater grasp of join along with his gamers, who’re themselves way more linked, as nicely. One other 12 months collectively along with his teaching workers has helped, though Bay FC just isn’t in place to return to the playoffs, the place it completed its inaugural season.

Bay FC’s head coach Albertin Montoya arrives earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 

He acknowledged that “deep inside” and at residence along with his spouse Erin, the investigation took a toll. However he appeared energized by the cheerful ambiance that prevailed within the constructing regardless of the inquiry.

“As crazy as it may sound, you would not be able to know there was an investigation,” Montoya stated.

With the probe now prior to now, Bay FC was all smiles within the lead-up to the San Diego sport. A short pregame interview was sequestered inside Montoya’s workplace due to the jubilant noise outdoors the door.

Montoya insists that the positive factors Bay FC has made prior to now 12 months, and the general vibe it has curated, are constructive.

“This is real,” he stated. “That’s what we try to create and I try to create at every level that I’ve been at, and that’s what we’re known for.”

Bay FC warms up earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Taking the sphere

With about 45 minutes left earlier than kickoff, Bay FC’s gamers take the sphere for warmups, led first by the goalkeepers. They run via positional drills and put together for the match forward.

Earlier than warmups finish, Montoya retreats to the solace of his workplace to complete preparations for the sport. Typically, he runs into sporting director Matt Potter, and the 2 share a couple of phrases.

When the gamers return, Montoya retains his message easy. It’s principally a restatement of methods already mentioned and identified, with one final tip: make the most of the counterattacking alternatives offered by San Diego’s most popular possession-dominant model.

This proves to be a problem as soon as the ball kicks off. As predicted, the Wave has roughly 60 % possession.

Extra importantly, San Diego scores twice early within the second half, placing Bay FC in a 2-0 gap.

San Diego Wave FC celebrates after scoring towards Bay FC within the second half at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 

Montoya, who’s a frenetic pacer on the sideline, lets out a prodigious whistle to get his gamers’ consideration.

As Bay FC begins to mount a comeback, 4 substitutes – Jamie Shepherd, Emmie Allen, Maddie Moreau and Catherine Paulson – start to heat up alongside the San Diego purpose line.

They watch in celebration as teammate Caroline Conti converts a Seventy fifth-minute penalty kick to deliver Bay FC inside a purpose. Then within the 88th minute, Bay FC almost equalizes.

A ball performed dangerously into the field almost finds the toes of Kundananji however is as a substitute harmlessly scooped up by San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

“Wow,” Moreau reacts.

“Inches,” Shepherd says.

Into the night time

After the ultimate whistle, Bay FC gamers greet their teammates and opponents, then huddle for some postgame discussions.

Montoya pulls Kundananji, who has been chasing her second purpose of the season within the midst of quite a lot of possibilities, apart to speak technique. No matter affect it has, she breaks her goalless streak the next week in San Francisco towards Washington.

Quite a lot of Bay FC gamers come over to fulfill with household and mates attending the match, in addition to signal autographs for followers. Paulson, a Los Altos native, meets together with her sister and mom, who look as if they might be triplets.

Catherine Paulson (17) hugs her twin sister Sarah Paulson after a sport towards Angel Metropolis FC at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 

Ultimately, gamers make their approach towards the locker room. There, they’re greeted by Potter and different Bay FC staffers milling about.

Potter, who seems to be in in any other case comparatively good spirits, gives a concise evaluation of the end result: “It sucks.”

An expansion of rooster sandwiches and nuggets from Chick-fil-A beckons to the gamers, and lots of partake. Defender Caprice Dydasco hydrates whereas discussing the match with psychological efficiency coach Agustina De Giovanni, a former Olympic swimmer from Argentina.

De Giovanni famous that not each participant needs to speak after a loss like that. However she’s there for those who do.

“I don’t talk to them,” she stated typically. “Some of them want to talk, some of them don’t. It can be draining. They’ll call me later sometimes, send me a voicemail saying, ‘I’m so upset.’”

The frustration additionally carried over from Bay FC’s earlier match towards Chicago, during which Bay misplaced an 1-0 early result in end in a draw with one of many worst groups within the league.

However Bay FC’s opponents aren’t going to sympathize.

As Bay FC’s gamers left one after the other, they entered an unsure future. They remained simply 4 factors again of the ultimate playoff spots, nicely inside hanging distance of eighth-place Gotham FC. (They enter Monday’s sport in Los Angeles towards Angel Metropolis seven factors again, with a sport in hand over Gotham, however with 4 groups to leap from twelfth place to eighth.)

But after the jovial pregame scene, the postgame ambiance was muted and unsettled. As a couple of San Diego gamers loved their postgame meals seated on the bottom just some hundred toes away, Bay FC needed to confront the stark actuality of their outcomes.

Like Montoya, they placed on a courageous face. However there was no instant decision for his or her considerations, no immediate slogan that may clear up their struggles.

It must come on the sphere.

Bay FC's Caroline Conti (15) celebrates with Bay FC's Taylor Huff (7) after scoring on a penalty kick towards the San Diego Waves within the second half at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Bay FC's Racheal Kundananji (9) and Bay FC's Asisat Oshoala (8) are celebrated for his or her achievements within the 2025 Ladies's Africa Cup of Nations throughout a pregame ceremony at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Bay FC gamers speak earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Bay FC stands for the Nationwide Anthem earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group) 
Bay FC's Catherine Paulson, left, and Bay FC’s Hannah Bebar, proper, arrive earlier than a sport towards the San Diego Waves at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)