Bay FC ‘not scared of anybody’ entering inaugural playoff game at high-flying Washington Spirit

SAN JOSE — Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji made clear her team’s mindset going into the franchise’s first playoff game.

“We are not scared of anybody,” Kundananji told this news organization on Wednesday. “We are just going to do our job, do what we always do and just enjoy the game.”

On Sunday, Bay FC, the seventh seed in the NWSL playoffs, will visit the No. 2-seeded Washington Spirit in the team’s first postseason match. The first-year club is just the second expansion franchise to make the playoffs in its inaugural season.

“I’m incredibly excited for the fans and for the organization because I know how much work has been put into putting this team together,” Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya told the Bay Area News Group. 

“The fact that we’re actually able to enjoy it a little bit and provide another game to our organization and our fans in the playoffs, which is quite challenging to do as an expansion team, it just means the world to us and to the players.”

Bay FC is coming off a 3-2 win over the Houston Dash on Saturday that helped clinch a playoff spot. Kundananji scored twice to deliver the win.

After a bumpy start to the year, Bay FC went 4-3-1 to end the season, which was good enough to sneak into the postseason. 

“They’ve shown a lot of resilience and a lot of character,” Montoya said of his players. “As an expansion team, you go through a lot of growth and a lot of challenging times. We did that early on in the season, but the fact that they stuck together and they just kept believing and trusting the process just shows the type of individuals that they are, and more importantly, they trust each other.”

Bay FC will come into Sunday’s playoff game as underdogs against one of the league’s top teams. 

Washington, led by U.S. National Team forward Trinity Rodman, beat Bay FC twice in the first half of the regular season. The Spirit have been one of the league’s top offenses as they are second in goals scored (51) and fourth in shots on target (148). Washington also lost only two of its 13 home games this regular season, and hasn’t lost at Audi Field since June.

Rodman missed some time earlier this season because of a back injury, but has still been one of the league’s better offensive players, scoring eight goals and dishing out six assists in 20 starts. Fellow forward Makenna Morris was just named the NWSL rookie of the month for October after notching three goals and an assist over four matches in the month.

“We’re focusing on what we’ve done in the second half of the season, which is just being organized defensively, understanding our roles and limiting their opportunities as much as possible,” Montoya said about how Bay FC will contain Washington’s attack. “That comes by denying space for Trinity Rodman and their difference makers.”

Kundananji and leading scorer Asisat Oshoala will play a key role in Bay FC’s offense on Sunday. Montoya said the goal will be to get both players in space to create for themselves or for others.

The duo has scored or assisted Bay FC’s last seven goals and has contributed to 16 of the team’s 29 goals in the regular season. 

But perhaps the biggest key for the upstart club will be how it will approach a postseason game. 

“These are the playoffs,” Kundananji said. “We are all concentrating on this game and we will try to do our very best and work on our areas where we need to work on. We lost the two games against this same team in the league, but this time we need to make a change.”