Bay FC rode second-half goals from forwards Alex Pfeiffer and Karlie Lema on its way to a 2-0 victory over Racing Louisville FC at PayPal Park on Sunday night.
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The victory was just Bay’s second since July 18 and gave the third-year NWSL squad back-to-back non-losing matches for the first time in two months. It came in the club’s third match in nine days.
“Really pleased with the win tonight and the clean sheet,” said Bay FC head coach Emma Coates. “I think that does a lot for the team and the confidence. I actually thought we probably could have and should have scored more, I thought we created a lot of good chances. Second half, I think we were just a little bit tired, and probably the three-game week probably caught up with us.”
Pfeiffer broke the scoreless tie in the 50th minute with a left-footed shot from the center of the box, courtesy of a Racheal Kundananji assist.
Lema, the former star striker from Morgan Hill’s Live Oak High, doubled Bay’s advantage just six minutes later when she slammed in a shot from close range. The goal was Lema’s seventh of the season, tying the club record for most goals in a season.
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Bay (7-13-5), which was coming off a thrilling comeback – two goals in the final 17 minutes — to force a 2-2 draw in Denver on Wednesday, got a record-setting performance from goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz in Sunday’s win.
Silkowitz’s save in the 82nd minute made her just the league’s sixth goalie to log 100 saves in a single season.
In addition, Silkowitz’s clean sheet against Louisville (7-16-2) marks Bay’s seventh of the season, establishing a club record for most shutouts in a season.
Bay has four matches left in the regular season and returns to action at PayPal on Sunday against the Orlando Pride (9-13-3) at 2 p.m.
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