{"id":107139,"date":"2025-12-24T01:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107139\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T01:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:37:14","slug":"bay-fc-signs-former-florida-state-star-heather-gilchrist-to-bolster-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107139\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay FC signs former Florida State star Heather Gilchrist to bolster defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks after helping Florida State shut out Stanford in the NCAA Women\u2019s College Cup final<\/a>, Heather Gilchrist is headed to the Bay Area to help fortify the Bay FC defensive line.<\/p>\n

Gilchrist, a two-time All-American<\/a>, signed a three-year contract with Bay FC, the National Women\u2019s Soccer League (NWSL) club announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited to be starting my professional career at Bay FC,\u201d Gilchrist said in a release issued by Bay FC. \u201cThe vision, support, and culture at Bay is special, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of it. I can\u2019t wait to grow in this environment as a player and person and play in front all the incredible fans of the Bay Area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KANSAS<\/a>KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – DECEMBER 08: Defender Heather Gilchrist #20 of the Florida State Seminoles controls the ball against midfielder Jasmine Aikey #12 of the Stanford Cardinal in the first half of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships at CPKC Stadium on December 08, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gilchrist won two national championships in four seasons with the Seminoles, both against the Cardinal. Florida State edged Stanford 1-0 earlier this month in Kansas City, and won 5-1 in the 2023 national championship game.<\/p>\n

The arrival of Gilchrist is just part of a new-look Bay FC squad that will open the 2026 season in March.<\/p>\n

Bay FC went 11-1-14 and reached the NWSL quarterfinals as an expansion club in 2024, but last season missed the playoffs<\/a>, finishing 13th in the 14-team league with a 4-8-14 record.<\/p>\n

Less than a week before Gilchrist\u2019s Seminoles completed their title run, Bay FC announced Emma Coates<\/a>, a former Leeds United player and the manager of the U-23 Lionesses since 2023, as the successor to Albertin Montoya<\/a>, who managed Bay during its first two seasons. Bay FC is also still searching for a replacement for Brady Stewart, its founding CEO who departed in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing Heather to Bay FC is an important signing for us,\u201d Coates said in the team release. \u201cShe is a composed and competitive defender. She fits exactly what we\u2019re building at Bay FC and we\u2019re excited about the impact she\u2019ll have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilchrist helped Florida State reach the College Cup three times. One of her teammates from 2023-24 was current Bay FC midfielder Taylor Huff. In 2023, the pair helped the Seminoles cap an undefeated season with their rout of Stanford in the College Cup final.<\/p>\n

\"Bay<\/a>Bay FC midfielder Taylor Huff celebrates after scoring a goal against Portland on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. Portland won the game 2-1. (Photo by Dante’y Buitureida \/ Courtesy of Bay FC)\u00a0<\/p>\n

This postseason, Gilchrist helped Florida State to four shutouts in six matches and provided one of the team\u2019s most important goals of the season. The defender only scored four times during the season, but she provided the lone goal in FSU\u2019s 1-0 second-round win over Lipscomb.<\/p>\n

Gilchrist represented the United States at the 2024 U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup in Colombia, starting in five of the six games as the Americans finished third in the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two weeks after helping Florida State shut out Stanford in the NCAA Women\u2019s College Cup final, Heather Gilchrist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[10708,402,181,88,90,89,1083,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-107139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-fc","9":"tag-inside-sports","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-soccer","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}