When head coach Albertin Montoya was asked what he hopes Bay FC players Racheal Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala bring back from their successful performances in the African WAFCON tournament during the international break, he responded simply with “Goals.”
As Bay FC enters the second half of the 2025 NWSL season, scoring goals is the most significant need for a club that has found the net only thirteen times in thirteen games.
Bay’s leading goal scorer in league games is forward Penelope Hocking, who has four goals. The rest of Bay FC’s forwards on the roster have four goals combined. Karlie Lema has two; Racheal Kundananji and Rachel Hill have both contributed one goal.
The biggest issue for Bay has been the lack of goals from its two star attacking players, Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala. While always dangerous on the attack, Kundananji has been unable to finish her chances. When playing together, Oshoala and Kundananji have not been able to link up and complement each other on the attack.
Both players are returning from international play in Africa’s WAFCON tournament, having netted important goals for their national teams. Oshoala scored Nigeria’s first goal in the tournament, helping her team win the competition. Meanwhile, Kundananji’s Zambia side was bounced from the tournament by Nigeria, but not before she scored three goals during their team’s group stage matches.
Montoya hopes that the players’ time away, being with their national sides and seeing their families, will help them be ready to address Bay FC’s scoring issues.
“We’ve experienced this in the past. When they come back, they’re just a little bit more relaxed,” explained Montoya. “They appreciate everything they do here, and they have, and it translates.”
While Bay FC hopes that its two stars will start scoring regularly, the club has other options available to put the ball into the back of the net. Hocking demonstrated her danger in front of the net during the international break with two goals in friendly matches against Angel City FC and Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds.
While technically a midfielder, second-year player Caroline Conti has been a significant goal-scoring contributor off the bench for Bay, thanks to her ability to score penalty kicks. Conti’s performances earned her a long-term contract with Bay FC over the international break.
She was among five current players who were also signed to new contracts by the club in July: goalkeeper Emmie Allen, midfielder Joelle Anderson, defender Maddie Moreau, forward Catherine Paulson, and midfielder Jamie Shepherd.
During the break, Bay FC also announced the acquisition of Barcelona B-side forward Onyeka Gamero, who has represented the USA at the Under-17 and Under-20 levels. Gamero scored two goals in nine games with Barcelona before she tore her ACL in 2023 and has been recovering ever since.
Gamero will continue her rehabilitation in the Bay Area, and it has not been announced if she will be able to return to the field before the end of the NWSL season.
That leaves it up to the Bay FC’s existing forward core, especially Kundananji and Oshoala, to start putting the ball into the back of the net, although Montoya will never tell them that directly.
“I say score goals here in front of you. I’m not going to tell that to them, because you don’t want to say that in front of forwards all that often, because it gets into their head,” joked Montoya in a press conference. “But we just hope since they scored at such a high level, just come and do your thing.”
And if they do, Bay FC has a good chance to make the NWSL postseason for the second year in a row.
