This year has been nothing short of groundbreaking for women’s soccer! Why, you ask? The season kicked off with a massive announcement: IMA Financial Group, led by CEO Robert Cohen, pledged a staggering $110 million to introduce the NWSL’s 16th franchise, a bold move signaling the sport’s rapid growth. The league was already turning heads, but it just shattered expectations as Bay FC and the Washington Spirit delivered a record-breaking showdown that left sports analysts stunned.

Bay FC made history at Oracle Park on Saturday by drawing a sellout crowd of 40,091 to face the Washington Spirit. This match set a new attendance record for any U.S. women’s professional sports league. To put this in perspective, the highest attendance in a WNBA regular-season game last year was 20,711 fans. This occurred on September 19, 2024, when the Indiana Fever played the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena. Out of the top 50 highest-attended matches in the history of the U.S women’s professional sports, the NSWL now has 48 of them under its banner.

The 40,091 at the Oracle stadium exceeded last season’s NWSL standalone crowd of 35,038, which was also set by the Bay FC when they clashed against the Chicago Red Stars at Wrigley Field. While having a conversation with the media, Spirits’ head coach Adrián González expressed his excitement about the atmosphere, “The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to experience something like this is just unique for the players, the staff, the soccer community, and the fans. I’m so grateful to be part of this.”

Well, he was not the only one mesmerized by the crowd; Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya was equally elated to witness such a loving attendance. “The players deserve it. They’ve worked so hard, and this league has come such a long way. When you get football like that, I think every single person who watched that game can leave and say, ‘Hey, I’d do this again,’ because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around,” said Montoya

Despite their best efforts, Bay FC conceded defeat at the hands of the Spirit with a score of 3-2. Bay FC fell behind early, trailing 3-0, but they managed to close the gap in time to save face from a humiliating defeat. How did the match go down? Let’s have a look at it.

 Bay FC concedes yet another defeat at NWSL

With a 3-2 victory over Bay FC, the Washington Spirit strengthened their playoff push and are now just behind the Kansas City Current on the points table. The team opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Kate Wiesner broke past Bay FC’s defense to net the first goal. Croix Bethune followed her lead by scoring the second goal, extending the lead to 2-0. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Bay FC, they were further marred by an own goal, which made it 3-0 in the Spirit’s favor.

With a 3-0 disadvantage, Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji couldn’t bear to see the condition her team was in; scoring the first goal for her team, they bounced back. Following Kundananji’s lead, it was Kelli Hubly who struck in the 54th minute to make it 3-2. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t score more than two goals. Well, it must be noted that Bay FC did try to score more goals; however, Spirits’ star goalie, Aubrey Kingsbury, stopped most of them.

Spirits secured their ninth win of the season, lifting them to second place in the standings with 31 points. After the victory, the Washington Spirit took second place from the San Diego Wave FC, while Bay FC remains in 12th position after back-to-back defeats. Can the spirits trounce the Kansas City? Time will tell.