‘She’s known for that’: Karlie Lema’s dramatic end-to-end goal keys Bay FC’s first win over Racing Louisville FC

SAN JOSE — Karlie Lema had the ball at her feet and plenty of green grass to roam. 

Then Bay FC’s rookie forward went to work.

“I’ve definitely done it a few times before,” Lema said. “But this time, it was a little further out.”

Bay FC, playing against Racing Louisville FC in its home opener, cleared a free kick from the visitors and gave Lema a shot at a counterattack. Lema, Bay FC’s prized offseason acquisition from Cal, did the rest. 

She picked the ball up just outside Bay FC’s 18-yard box and dribbled past a Louisville defender. With players scattering after the set piece, Lema suddenly found herself all alone on the right side of the field. 

Dribbling with frenetic pace, Lema lined up a shot just outside Louisville’s 18 and struck gold, tucking the ball in the top right corner of the net.

Bay FC, already up 1-0, doubled its lead two minutes into first-half stoppage time and would not be threatened the rest of the night, winning 2-0 in front of 14,742 fans at PayPal Park.

“She’s known for that,” said Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya. “Honestly, I was thinking, ‘No, don’t shoot. You’re too far.’ And then I was like, ‘OK, good job. Don’t listen to me.’ She scores goals like this all the time. I was just in awe, applauding, and I’m glad she did it. When you score a goal like that, that’s just the confidence in a player believing in themselves.”

Lema and Bay FC (1-0-1) look like a team that has full faith in itself through two games this season. The Bay Area’s NWSL side could be playing in a distracted and disorganized fashion, what with the active investigation into Montoya and the coaching staff that is hanging over their heads.

Instead, Bay looks galvanized. Whether the investigation has brought the team closer together or simply failed to disrupt it, for now, whatever Bay FC is doing is working.

“I don’t even think about it, because we’re having so much fun,” Montoya said. “I look forward to coming to work every day with our staff, with our players. We’re enjoying it. You can’t tell. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s what we’re trying to create, that environment. And you can see it in the players. Everyone’s enjoying themselves, having fun. They’re demanding perfection from each other, and they’re creating that.

“The question, ‘Has it been a distraction?’ Absolutely not. That’s why you don’t see it out there, because we’re so focused on getting better and enjoying the type of football we’re playing.”

The night had an unmistakably local flair for Bay FC, as both goals were scored by Bay Area natives. To go along with the stunning strike by Lema, who hails from Morgan Hill, San Jose native Joelle Anderson scored Bay FC’s first tally on a nifty volley inside the box in the 12th minute.

“It’s honestly surreal, a hometown player scoring the first (home) goal of the season,” said Anderson, who scored 101 goals at Harker during her prep days. “You dream of moments like that as a child. So to get that first goal for our team, get the momentum going, it carried out through the whole game. It was an amazing experience.”

Not to be outdone, goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz recorded the first clean sheet of her NWSL career with three saves to shut out Louisville (0-1-1).

Right now, the vibes emanating from Bay FC are good. Bay looks like a contender in the NWSL one year after becoming just the second expansion team to make the playoffs. 

This team looks a lot like the one that ended its first season on a tear and took league runner-up Washington to the brink in the NWSL quarterfinals. In a lot of ways, this Bay FC squad is better than last year’s group. 

It’s only two games, but Bay FC seems poised to make its goal of hosting a home playoff game a reality if it keeps playing like this. The roster is deeper, has a clearer identity and has threats all over the field.

Some of them don’t even play every game. On Saturday, stalwarts Asisat Oshoala and Tess Boade – the latter a captain – didn’t start. Boade entered in the 86th minute, and Oshoala did not enter the match at all.

Last year, that would have been unthinkable. Bay FC needed them on the pitch for all 90 minutes.

This season, Montoya has the luxury of attacking whatever matchup he sees fit.

“Right now, I think we have 25 starters,” Montoya said. “I really do. Every single game right now, we’re going to see changes to the lineup quite often, because they’re capable of doing it, and teams don’t know what we’re going to throw at them.”