SAN JOSE – Bay FC coach Emma Coates had never experienced it as a player or coach, and hopes she never will again.

Reduced to nine players after two direct red cards, including one to starting goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz, Bay FC eventually fell 1-0 to Chicago Stars FC on Sunday at PayPal Park, wasting a chance to build momentum in its last home game in eight weeks before the international break.

Mallory Swanson — the 2019 World Cup champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist — scored the winning goal in the 70th minute for Chicago as Bay FC’s winless skid reached four games (0-2-2). 

“Obviously, it’s a difficult circumstance when you end the game with nine players, and I thought the heart that the players (demonstrated) showed their toughness,” the 35-year-old Coates said. “We kept creating chances, we hit the crossbar, I thought we might have been able to (score) one towards the end of the game.

“I thought they had hearts of lions out there today.”

Bay FC became the first NWSL team in seven years to receive two straight red cards in the same match.

“I thought our strategy was good. Maybe we’ll use that again,” Coates said, before catching herself. “Hopefully I never experience that again in my career, if I’m honest.”

The chaos began in the 12th minute when Bay centerback and Argentina captain Aldana Cometti was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. A back pass from fullback Maddie Moreau skipped past Joelle Anderson, springing Chicago forward Jordyn Huitema on a 1-on-1 before Cometti tripped her just outside the penalty area.

“It’s a beautiful game, it’s an ugly game, it’s a hard game,” Bay captain Claire Hutton said. “We’re out here grinding every day, and we’re going to back each other up. It’s a game of love, and we’re just going to keep competing every day.”

Even down to 10 players, Bay controlled stretches of the match.

The hosts outshot Chicago 8-4 and thought they had taken the lead when Taylor Huff found the net, only for the goal to be overturned after review because Cristiana Girelli was ruled offside in the buildup.

But the match unraveled for Bay in the 65th minute. Silkowitz raced off her line and swatted away a ball outside the penalty area to stop a breakaway, leaving the club with nine players for the first time in its three-year history.

Chicago needed only five minutes to capitalize, with Swanson scoring her first goal since July 6, 2024. The American forward, who entered at halftime, was making just her second appearance since giving birth in November.

The scoreline fit a match between the league’s two lowest-scoring teams. Chicago (3-8-0, 9 points) entered having been shut out in seven of its previous eight matches, while Bay FC (3-5-2, 11 points) had scored only twice in its last six games.

Bay kept pressing despite the two-player disadvantage, generating late chances but failing to find an equalizer.

“I loved the energy that we brought even though we were two players down,” said midfielder Hannah Bebar, who hit the crossbar with the team’s final shot. “You have to be ready for any scenario in this league, even one as crazy as today.”

Bay FC, in 13th place in the 16-team NWSL, travels to Orlando on Friday before pausing league play until July. Coates hopes the resilience her team showed Sunday can carry forward.

“I thought we saw a real edge from the players at the end of the game,” Coates said. “Whatever got them through that game off the back of a three-game week — and we were still pushing for goals — bottle that up. That’s what we take over to Orlando.”