{"id":4842,"date":"2026-07-18T22:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4842"},"modified":"2026-07-18T22:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:38:15","slug":"karlie-lema-scores-two-as-bay-fc-thrashes-north-carolina-in-first-home-game-in-nearly-two-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4842","title":{"rendered":"Karlie Lema scores two as Bay FC thrashes North Carolina in first home game in nearly two months"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN JOSE \u2014 The World Cup break has been good to Bay FC.<\/span><\/p>\n

After taking about a month off for the FIFA men\u2019s tournament played across North America, Bay FC has returned to the pitch with back-to-back wins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Mill Valley native helps steer Mars rover team to victory<\/a><\/p>\n

A week after returning to action with a road win over Utah, Bay FC thrashed the North Carolina Courage 3-0 on Saturday at PayPal Park, getting two early goals from Karlie Lema and a second-half score from Racheal Kundananji to seal the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was Bay FC\u2019s first home game since a 1-0 loss to the Chicago Stars on May 24.<\/p>\n

Lema\u2019s two-goal effort was Bay FC\u2019s first multi-score game since Kundananji bagged a pair of goals in Bay FC\u2019s win over Houston that concluded its inaugural regular season in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goals were ripe for the plucking all afternoon. Lema hit the right post with a shot in the sixth minute and was off to the races from there, bagging her first off an extended dribbling sequence and then a rebounded shot in the 15th minute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then in the 17th, North Carolina\u2019s back line continued to leak like a sieve as Alex Pfeiffer received a through ball with a ton of space on the right side, then hit Lema with a perfect centering pass for a tap-in right in front of the goal mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Foodborne illnesses at restaurant chains are rare but can sicken customers, roil businesses<\/a><\/p>\n

Kundananji\u2019s goal came in the 54th minute as a poor pass from the North Carolina back line found the way to her feet. And she made no mistake with it, taking a few quick touches and then clinically slotting home the third past Courage goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

With its second straight victory, Bay FC has risen from 14th to 11th in the NWSL standings. Bay FC is two points back of <\/span>eighth-place Orlando for the final NWSL playoff spot. The Pride face Utah Royals starting at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, and results from that match were not final when the Bay Area News Group went to print.<\/span><\/p>\n

The midday match was attended by 12,081 fans according to Bay FC\u2019s numbers, but there were wide swaths of open seats at PayPal Park. The match coincided with the World Cup third-place game between England and France, which could help explain the sparse turnout. <\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Inside Sports newsletter for all our sports coverage, including game analysis, scores, and everything you want to know about your Bay Area sports teams, including Bay FC.<\/p>\n

Read more Hazardous materials incident sickens 8 staff members at Salinas Valley State Prison<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morgan Hill native Karlie Lema bagged a pair of goals and Racheal Kundananji added a third as Bay FC routed the Courage in front of a midday crowd at PayPal Park<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKarlie Lema scores two as Bay FC thrashes North Carolina in first home game in nearly two months - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4842\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karlie Lema scores two as Bay FC thrashes North Carolina in first home game in nearly two months - 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