Angel City finally defeats Bay FC

The third time was the charm for Angel City FC against Bay FC.

After losing both regular season meetings to its newest in-state rival, Angel City was finally able to get one over this season on its Northern California Rivals, this time in both team’s second match of the NWSL Liga MX Summer Cup. A Bay FC own goal in the first half and a Claire Emslie strike in the second half carried Angel City to the 2-0 win at PayPal Park.

“You almost have to focus on yourselves,” Angel City head coach Becki Tweed said. “We came here knowing that three points was what we wanted and a win was what we wanted. A clean sheet was what we wanted and we were able to achieve all those things.”

With the win Angel City remains in first place in Group B, three points ahead of both San Diego Wave FC and Club America. America’s win over Wave FC sets up a furious finish in the final matches, as Angel City will probably not only need to win, but score more goals to ensure advancement to the knockout stages.

Angel City was gifted the lead in the 18th minute. Emslie sent a free kick into the penalty area, Bay FC’s Kayla Sharpels looked to make a play on the ball, only to see the ball deflect off her and towards goal. The ball bounced off the post, but Sharpels’ teammate Dorian Bailey came in at full speed and ended up inadvertently sending the ball into the back net for a Bay FC own goal that gave Angel City the early lead.

Emslie found the back net herself in the 54th minute. Alyssa Thompson received a ball from Sarah Gorden and dribbled into the penalty area, Thompson passed to Messiah Bright, but she didn’t have any good sight at goal, so she passed to Emslie, and she didn’t waste any time, blasting a right-footed shot past keeper Katelyn Rowland far post to double the Angel City advantage.

“I saw Claire cutting in and my main thing that I wanted to do was just post up and be within the width of the goal,” Bright said of the buildup to Emslie’s goal. “I was trying to see if I could turn and get a shot off, but that wasn’t on. I saw Claire on the side and I laid it off to her and she does what she does best with finishing it. That was pretty fun.”

Bay FC did have some chances early in the match to find the back net. Caroline Conti had two point-blank looks in the third and fourth minutes, the first chance was parried by keeper Angelina Anderson over the crossbar, and the second, which came off a corner kick, was easily collected by Anderson. Even before that, Rachel Hill was sprung into the penalty area, Hill shot for the near post, but the shot was saved by Anderson, and Dayna Castellanos saw Anderson off her line in the 10th minute and tried a shot from 40 plus yards out, but missed. Bay FC’s best chance in the second half came in the 77th minute,

Friday’s match also marked a milestone of sorts, as 17-year old Casey Phair made her NWSL debut. Phair, a year removed from representing South Korea in the World Cup, subbed into the match in the 66th minute, replacing Bright.

“It was surreal,” Phair said. “I feel like I’ve worked so hard since I’ve gotten here and I don’t think I’ve had to work so hard in my life. To have that pay off now today was just really great. I’m very proud.”