INDIO, Calif.\u202f(Feb.\u00a015,\u00a02026)\u202f\u2013\u00a0Bay FC played the second of three preseason friendlies today, earning a 2-1 win over the Houston Dash. Forward Penelope Hocking and midfielder\u00a0Hannah Bebar each found the back of the net for Bay FC.\u00a0The club\u2019s newest addition, Claire Hutton\u00a0played 65 minutes as she works her way into the team\u2019s mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday was\u00a0really\u202fpositive,\u201d said head coach Emma Coates.\u00a0\u201cEvery day we spend together, every week, every opportunity, the players are just getting\u202fbetter,\u202fand I thought they deserved to win today. But I think the bit\u202fthat\u2019s\u202fmost pleasing is that\u202fthey\u2019re\u202fdoing the things that we asked them to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hutton earned the first half start today, joining Bebar and Taylor Huff in the midfield.\u00a0The trio\u00a0established\u00a0a possession style strategy that saw the club\u00a0hold momentum through much of the opening period. Together they were able to open the field, giving the\u00a0forwards\u00a0plenty of space to find meaningful attacks. Defensively, they were able to support the back line and thwart any danger coming from the opponents, allowing only one goal in the first 45 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bay FC took the lead\u00a0in the eighth minute on a play that was a whole team effort.\u00a0Huff sent a\u00a0corner kick\u00a0to\u00a0forward\u00a0Alex Pfeiffer near the top of the penalty box. Pfeiffer took on her defenders and\u00a0place\u00a0a hard shot on goal. Although Houston\u2019s goalkeeper was able to make the stop, the rebound fell to where Hocking\u00a0had positioned\u00a0herself\u00a0and she was able to put the ball home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Defensively, the only first half danger came in the 39th minute as Bay found itself defending inside their own penalty box. A pass to\u00a0just outside the box led to a line drive shot on net, but goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz dove to the side and deflected the ball away, stopping the only shot Houston was able to put on goal in the entire half.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With some changes in the second half lineups for each team,\u00a0play\u00a0evened out for the first part of the second half.\u00a0A controversial play in the\u00a067th minute led to\u00a0a\u00a0goal for the Dash against the run of play.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second half substitute forwards Onyeka Gamero and\u00a0Karlie Lema were\u00a0clutch\u00a0working the ball down the sidelines throughout the second period. In the\u00a085th minute Gamero dribbled around and through three defenders as she drove toward the endline.\u00a0Looking up, she sent a sharp pass to Bebar at the top of the box who was able to collect the ball, then with one touch to her left foot, send a perfectly placed shot\u00a0into the near post.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bay FC will head home to continue training and preparation for the 2026 NWSL Season, kicking\u00a0off at PayPal Park March 14<\/a> against expansion side Denver Summit FC.\u00a0Season and Single Game Tickets are available at\u00a0BayFC.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bay FC v\u00a0Houston Dash\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Preseason Friendly\u00a0<\/p>\n February\u00a015,\u202f20256\u202f\u00a0 Bay FC\u00a0Scoring Summary:\u202f\u00a0 Bay FC\u00a0Lineups\u00a0 Second Half:\u00a0Allen, Malonson, Courtnall\u00a0(65\u2019 Anderson), Gilchrist, Collins, Bebar, Hutton\u00a0(65\u2019 Bailey), Huff\u00a0(75\u2019\u00a0Shepherd), Conti\u00a0(65\u2019\u00a0Lema),\u00a0Boade,\u00a0Gamero\u00a0<\/p>\n QUOTES:\u00a0\u00a0 On Penelope Hocking and her second goal this preseason\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0 On Claire Hutton\u2019s introduction to the team\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0 On Hannah Bebar\u2019s goal and performance\u2026\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0 Midfielder Hannah Bebar\u00a0 On\u00a0today\u2019s match\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0 On playing with Claire Hutton\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0 On sustaining success across\u202f90 minutes\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0 Midfielder Claire Hutton\u00a0 On integrating with the team so quickly\u2026\u202f\u00a0
Santa Barbara, Calif.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
BAY \u2013\u00a08\u2019 Hocking\u00a0
BAY \u2013 85\u2019 Bebar (Gamero)\u00a0<\/p>\n
First Half:\u00a0Silkowitz, Moreau,\u00a0Courtnall,\u00a0Hubly, Collins,\u00a0Bebar, Hutton, Huff, Conti, Hocking, Pfeiffer\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Head Coach Emma Coates\u00a0
On today\u2019s match\u2026\u202f\u202f\u00a0
Yeah,\u202freally\u202fpositive. Every day we spend together, every week, every opportunity, the players are just getting\u202fbetter\u202fand I thought they deserved to win today. But I think the bit\u202fthat\u2019s\u202fmost pleasing is that\u202fthey\u2019re\u202fdoing the things that we asked them to.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
We know that\u202fshe\u2019s\u202fa threat in the box, got one-touch finishes, little drop down, things like that.\u202fI thought both the goals were taking really well and yeah, just pleased for them both, really, both the goal scorers.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yeah, I thought she was composed\u202fon\u202fthe ball.\u00a0I thought she\u2019s, for how little time\u202fwe\u2019ve\u202fhad with her, how quickly\u202fshe\u2019s\u202fpicked up the structures and some of the things that we want to put in place is\u202freally nice.\u202fI thought\u202fher\u202fand Hannah\u202f[Bebar]\u202fin particular developed a really, really nice relationship.\u202fSo\u202fwe\u2019re\u202fjust looking forward to\u202fkeep\u202fbuilding on her performances.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u202fa nice finish,\u202fwasn\u2019t\u202fit? I speak to them\u202fbefore,\u202fthey\u2019ve\u202fgot to start getting into the area more, taking the shots, being more confident.\u202fSo\u202fthe fact that she\u2019s being rewarded with a goal is really nice.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
On her second half\u202fgoal\u2026\u202f\u00a0
We\u202fhad a good switch of play out to Onyeka, and she\u2019s super crafty on the ball, and I think I just saw an opportunity to be there for the cutback, and she saw me making that late run, and I think found me perfectly on the box. And I had a good prep touch and I thought, why not? And\u202fI\u2019m\u202fnot one to usually let it rip, but I took a shot with my\u202fleft\u202fand it ended up going right in the corner.\u202fSo\u202fI was happy I decided to shoot there. I know my dad always tell when I was younger,\u202fhe\u2019s\u202flike would scream shooting from top of the box. And\u202fI think I\u202fheard that when I decided to shoot.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think it\u202fwas a huge step forward. I think\u202fas a team,\u202fwe\u2019ve\u202fbeen working\u202freally hard\u202fthroughout\u202fpreseason\u202fjust to implement\u202fthe tactics that Emma\u202f[Coates]\u202fand Gemma\u202f[Davies]\u202fare implementing. And having Claire in there was huge just to set\u202ftempo\u202fand to be, you know, a really good presence in the midfield.\u202fI think\u202fwe\u202fbuilt nicely into this\u202fgame\u202fand\u202fI think it\u202fwas a huge step forward and\u202fwe\u2019re\u202fjust looking to build as each game goes on in pre-season.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yeah, she\u2019s an insanely good player and I think just her calmness on the ball and her leadership really helps\u202forganize the midfield and you know, I think that the midfield\u202fis\u202fsort of like the glue and so she came in there and just set play and brought a really high standard which just like makes you want to follow.\u202fSo\u202fshe\u2019s\u202fthe type of\u202fplayer who just makes everyone around her better and I think playing with her is so fun and so creative.\u202fShe\u2019s\u202fso good\u202fon\u202fthe ball and it really worked well today.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll\u202falways say our midfield unit is super strong and very connected\u202fon\u202fthis team.\u202fSo\u202fI think we have some really good partnerships\u202fand\u202fdepth. And I think when you make subs and you make\u202frotations,\u202fit\u2019s\u202fjust sticking to those principles. And I think when Jamie\u202f[Shepherd]\u202fcame in, she did so well just\u202fstepping\u202fhigh and being a connector in the midfield as well, and\u202fshe really kept up the tempo.\u202fIt\u2019s\u202fhard to sub-in games, especially in the midfield when\u202fit\u2019s\u202ffast-paced.\u202fI think we\u202fdid great with that today.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
On her first match with her new club\u2026\u00a0\u202f\u00a0
It\u2019s exciting just to see what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0starting to build and how the pieces are coming together.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a great start and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0excited for the season to begin one month away, less than a month.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think the biggest thing\u00a0is just the standard that Emma\u2019s\u00a0(Coates)\u00a0laying tactically, technically, and what she expects from us and being able to go out there and perform it together.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0a clear picture, so\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy just to plug in and play.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIO, Calif.\u202f(Feb.\u00a015,\u00a02026)\u202f\u2013\u00a0Bay FC played the second of three preseason friendlies today, earning a 2-1 win over the Houston…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-179988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179988","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=179988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}