In the end, these two sides were always destined to meet: San Francisco and Oakland. Both boasted the best women’s soccer players in the Bay Area and both were atop the NorCal division standings after the USL W League’s first season in the region.
After dropping the regular season finale against the Soul earlier in the week, the SF Glens turned around and battered their rivals 5-1 in the opening round of the W League playoffs. Most of the damage came courtesy of star forward Nadia Gomes, whose return to competitive soccer after “disappearing” from the game, was capped off by a postseason hat-trick.
“We say before every game that the first and last five minutes of every half are crucial,” said Glens coach Mike Sharabi. “That’s how it played out with the goals.”
And Gomes, a native of Portugal and former NWSL draft pick, terrorized defenders with her pace and power, often resembling a sort of Kylian Mbappe with the ball at her feet. In the first 10 minutes, she scored to help the Glens race out to an early two goal advantage, forcing the visitors to chase the game for nearly an entire 90 minutes.
Then, before the halftime whistle blew, when the Soul were starting to climb back into the game, she rifled home a golazo from outside the box to put the game away 3-0.
Now 26, Gomes has re-emerged on the scene after nearly four years away. During that hiatus, she relocated to Northern California (from Utah, where she played at BYU) and gave birth to her now 3-year-old son.
“Nadia is amazing,” Sharabi said. “She came out to our open tryouts and within three minutes, we knew right away she had something—we signed her right then and there.”
“It’s been awesome to see her grab the season by the neck,” he added. “It gives hope to the next wave of players, who might not make the [professional] cut right away after college, to see that they can still play at a high level and be great.”
Gomes said even though she initially planned to come back to soccer sooner, before the pandemic shuttered sports, that the timing has worked out for the better.
“I’m loving it,” Gomes said. “I’m really thankful for the support of my family, who have made this all possible. My husband and my in-laws are able to watch my son now when I’m out here.”
“It’s been hard,” she added. “In the beginning, I knew I was coming into a high-level environment and that I had to step it up and get in shape again. But nothing beats it when your team shows up like we did today. It’s so fun.”
The final scoreline, while unflattering, doesn’t tell the whole story. After getting punched in the mouth in the opening of both halves, the Soul actually enjoyed more of the possession and created good chances. Star forwards Miranda Nild and Samantha Tran returned to the Oakland attack, and Japanese youth international Manaka Hayashi flashed her quality in tight spaces again. In the previous game against the Glens, she scored a second half hat-trick.
“You saw it on both sides,” said Soul coach Jessica Clinton. “Both teams attempted to play their styles despite the [windy] conditions. They were very clinical and we weren’t. But we had our chances.”
The loss on Friday ends the Soul’s first ever campaign after launching late last year. Clinton, who was recruited from Fordham to helm the women’s side of the Roots organization, said that she’s been impressed with the level of talent in the region.
“Obviously, we know some of the best players in the nation come from here,” Clinton said. “So the expectations are high.”
“But I’m just so proud of them,” she said. “I joke with my players that my love for them is usually conditional, but after today, they deserved five minutes of my unconditional love for how they dug in for each other.”
“There wasn’t even a roster as recently as April, but how they’ve come together and bonded as friends and teammates, just speaks to their quality as people.”
For the Glens, their first ever playoff win bookends an ambitious project led by executive director and general manager Mike McNeil to professionalize the sport in San Francisco. Now with both a men’s and women’s team flourishing in the USL pre-professional leagues, the team is aiming to go professional once their new Treasure Island stadium is completed.
“This is the level of soccer this region deserves,” McNeil said after the final whistle. “We just saw the next wave of World Cup players here today.”
