Bay FC’s early strike holds as San Diego’s finishing comes up empty

SAN DIEGO — Racheal Kundananji’s goal put Bay FC ahead in the 5th minute, and the team was able to blank San Diego Wave FC at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday night. San Jose capitalized on their early opportunity to secure three points on the road.

After winning five consecutive games, the Wave has suffered back-to-back losses this week, but still sits in the top-3 of the NWSL standings through eight matches. Their attack has had plenty of chances, but they have been unable to find that finishing touch in both games.

“I think we created enough chances to win the game,” Wave assistant coach Becki Tweed said postgame. “On another day, it's a different result. But we've definitely got to go away and reflect, and look at what we can improve and grow upon.”

San Diego’s win streak was snapped on Wednesday when they traveled to Portland. It was a top-of-the-table clash. Thorns blanked the Wave, and its explosive attack. Marie Müller scored her first career goal in the 10th minute, and then talented goal scorer Sophia Wilson sealed the home team’s 2-0 victory in the 64th minute.

During that impressive stretch, the Wave defeated Utah (2-1), Portland (3-1), Chicago (3-0), Boston (1-0), and Denver (3-2).

DiDi Haracic, who began the season as the starting goalkeeper, returned to the net after missing time with an injury. Her last appearance was in the season opener on March 15. Leah Freeman started in her place during that stretch, but was not available tonight.

Eidevall inserted Gabi Portilho back into the lineup, starting over Kimmi Ascanio. Portilho was brought on in the second half against Portland and had five shot attempts. 

Through five matches, Bay FC is near the bottom of the table with two wins and three losses. They went winless in April, losing 2-0 to Washington and 3-0 to Gotham last week. All of Gotham’s goals came in the first half. In that match, Jordan Silkowitz had a club-record 12 saves—this performance tied an NWSL-best for saves. Alex Pfeiffer, an 18-year-old forward, leads the team in goals (2) was out with a knee injury.

Before kickoff, the U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes spoke to the San Diego media, answering several questions about current Wave players and the team’s outlook.

Scoring has been an issue for San Jose this season. They were held scoreless in back-to-back matches, but were able to get past a very talented San Diego backline early.

Five minutes into the match, Taylor Huff kick-started a fast break from midfield, completing a long through ball to Racheal Kundananji, who outran Wave defender Mimi Van Zanten. Kennedy Wesley's attempt to intercept the pass was unsuccessful, setting up Kundananji, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. She snuck the ball through Haracic’s legs for the score—this goal would’ve been avoided if Haracic had better technique on the save attempt.

This was Kundananji’s first goal in 2026. The 25-year-old has scored nine goals in the past two seasons for San Jose.

About 10 minutes later, Bay defender Aldana Cometti fouled Ludmila inside the penalty area. Kenza Dali stepped up to the spot, and her shot was denied by the bottom right side of the post—a missed opportunity for the Wave to equalize.

“Kenza is an excellent pro,” Tweed said about the missed penalty kick. “She's played in a bunch of games and a bunch of big tournaments, and she's been incredible for us over the last season and a half. These things happen.”

On the ensuing corner kick, Dali’s cross found Ludmila, but her dangerous header was denied.

Three Bay FC players picked up yellow cards in the first 45 minutes: Cometti, Claire Hutton, and Karlie Lema.

In the second half, the Wave were still searching for the match-tying goal. Eidevall subbed on three attacking players in Melanie Barcenas, Gia Corley, and Ascanio in the 65th minute.

Late into the match, Eidevall was shown a red card after he was visibly frustrated with the stoppage in play. A player for the opposing team was down on the pitch, and the referee blew the whistle as the Wave entered the attacking third. It was a head-scratching decision.

Tweed, who replaced Eidevall as manager tonight, had no comment on the ejection.

San Diego played well enough to tie or win, but that wasn’t the case. They led in the following statistical categories: shot attempts (14), shots on goal (6), corner kicks (4), and possession (54.2%). Silkowitz was the match's top performer with six big saves for Bay FC. San Diego's captain, Wesley, believes her team didn’t play to their standard and missed some of the details, leading to this result.

“They're a really talented team,” Wesley said postgame. “They have a really good structure in what they want to do, and they definitely made it difficult for us. At the end of the day, our level of technical execution as a group wasn't exactly where we wanted it to be.”

This was the Wave’s third game this week—at Denver (April 25), at Portland (April 29), and today against Bay FC (May 3)—and fatigue may have been a factor in this result.

“There are moments tonight where it did look like our third game of the week, and we did look a little bit tired, and that can happen sometimes,” Tweed said. “It can affect your decision-making or your technical execution, and I think that's what we saw tonight.”

San Diego will travel to Los Angeles on Saturday, May 9, to face Angel City at BMO Stadium.