The Bay FC, the first-year professional women’s soccer team, is right in the mix for a playoff spot in its inaugural season. Despite all the challenges and obstacles of an expansion franchise, the squad would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. They would earn the eighth and final playoff spot as they currently hold a two-point lead over ninth seed Racing Louisville FC.
Playing in front of an already rabid fan base at Paypal Stadium in San Jose, Bay FC currently owns just a 6-0-10 record, (win-draw-loss). However, after a five-game losing streak from April 20th through May 11th, the squad has bounced back to much more competitive soccer, owning a 4-0-5 record over their past nine games. With 19 goals scored, Bay FC is tied for eighth in scoring, but with 28 goals conceded, they are tied for worst in the league with the bottom two teams in the standings.
“Definitely, the defensive side of things we need to tighten up a little bit. Obviously, 28 goals conceded is not ideal,” said midfielder Joelle Anderson. “Just tighten up and not give up silly goals. A lot of them are our own fault that we should be able to fix quickly.
Anderson is one of a handful of Bay FC players with local ties. The veteran midfielder grew up in the area and played high school at Harker School in San Jose. Before the season she was traded to her home-town team.
“[The trade] was definitely surprising,” acknowledged Anderson. “But when I heard the Bay Area was getting a team, I was like ‘oh that would be so cool to go back home and play for them.’ So, when I actually got the phone call that it was happening, there were just so many emotions. Just so excited to come back home and play for my hometown.”
Her hometown has been just as, if not more, excited to cheer her and her teammates on. Anderson and her teammates seemed nothing but the most genuine in describing the atmosphere for home games in San Jose.
“Even better [than I expected],” beamed Anderson on the crowd support. “Our home opener is one game I will always remember for the rest of my career. Having people show up and seeing the support from the fans has meant everything.”
Rookie midfielder Maya Doms is a Davis, California native who played her collegiate soccer at Stanford. Like Anderson, she’s been incredibly impressed by the fan support at Paypal.
“They have exceeded my expectations,” said Doms. “Just the amount of fans we get every single game regardless of the results we’ve been getting. They love us unconditionally, they are super loud. Especially for an expansion team, I think we are in a great area with a lot of soccer fans so that has helped. But, yes, absolutely exceeded expectations.”
Goalkeeper Melissa Lowder played her collegiate soccer next door at Santa Clara University and offered similar sentiments to her teammates on the fan support.
“Honestly the fans have been way better than I had imagined,” said Lowder. “I knew we would have some fan base being in the bay with all the sports teams and the Earthquakes being here. But our fans have been incredible. They have backed us no matter what and we really appreciate it.”
Fans have five more chances to see the Bay FC at Paypal Stadium before the regular season wraps up on Saturday, Oct. 19.
