Last-gasp Dash goal spoils Bay FC home opener

Havana Solaun‘s goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time spoiled Bay FC’s home opener and gave the Houston Dash a 3-2 comeback victory on Saturday.

Bay FC‘s Deyna Castellanos scored her first NWSL goal in the first half when she pounced on a rebound and fired into the upper left corner, but a second-half Diana Ordóñez brace put the Dash ahead.

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Racheal Kundananji, who joined Bay FC in a world-record deal, equalized in the 93rd minute before Solaun’s last-minute goal gave Houston its first win of the season.

Castellanos’s goal opened the scoring, although Ordóñez took hold of the game in the second half. Her first goal came in the 66th minute when she won the ball near the halfway line and dribbled toward the goal before finding María Sánchez to her left, who took a few touches to create space and sent a cross back to Ordóñez to nod in.

Ordóñez got her second in the 87th minute. Houston was awarded a penalty due to a handball in the box. Ordóñez stepped up to take the kick, which was initially saved by Lysianne Proulx but fell back to the forward, who made no mistake with her second chance.

In the 93rd minute, Kundananji cut into the box and unleashed a shot into the upper left corner to level the match. She grabbed a Zambian flag on the sideline to celebrate becoming the first Zambian player to score in an NWSL match.

The game’s winner came in the 100th minute when Bay FC clearance bounced toward Solaun, whose left-footed shot took a slight deflection and slipped into the left corner to seal the win for the Dash.

Elsewhere, Kansas City remained perfect this season with a 4-2 victory over Angel City on Saturday at the Current’s new CPKC Stadium.

The Current are 3-0-0 and sit atop the NWSL.

Vanessa DiBernardo opened the scoring for the Current in the seventh minute when teammate Bia Zaneratto won the ball high up the field and crossed it to Temwa Chawinga in the middle, who flicked the ball to her right with the outside of her foot. DiBernado shot and found the upper right corner.

The Current scored again just before half-time when Alexa Spaanstra headed in DiBernardo’s cross on the far post.

Sydney Leroux headed in Claire Emslie‘s cross in the 50th minute for Angel City, but the Current responded a minute later. After her teammate won a clearance, Zaneratto collected the ball and passed to Chawinga on her right. The forward sent a powerful shot into the back of the net, becoming the first Malawian player to score in the NWSL.

Angel City put some pressure on the Current to close out the match. In the 79th minute, Madison Curry pounced on a loose ball from a corner kick, bringing Angel City to within one.

A few minutes later, Rocky Rodríguez scored what looked to be the tying goal on a similar play off a corner, but a video review disallowed the goal for offside.

The Current got an insurance goal late in the match when Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson came far off her line to punch a ball away, but it fell to Zaneratto, who slipped her shot into the upper right corner.

Veteran midfielder Desiree Scott subbed into the match late, marking her return after being sidelined with an injury all of 2023.

In Portland, Uchenna Kanu scored a pair of goals in the first six minutes for Racing Louisville, but the Portland Thorns came from behind for a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

Portland midfielder Sam Coffey scored the equalizing goal late in stoppage time after Morgan Weaver’s goal in the 52nd minute.

Kanu, a Nigerian forward who joined Racing Louisville last season, scored in the third and sixth minutes. It was the fastest brace in league history.

It was Louisville’s third straight draw to open the season, while the Thorns remain winless.

“It’s frustrating for the girls, we’re not losing (but) drawing all these games won’t win you anything,” Racing defender Abby Erceg said.

In North Carolina, Brianna Pinto‘s first-half goal helped the Courage earn a 1-0 home win against reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC.

The Courage improved to 2-1-0 for the season.

Just before half-time, defender Ryan Williams found Bianca St-Georges down the right side, who crossed the ball into the box. Ashley Sanchez centered it to the middle with her head, and Pinto flicked the ball into the left corner.

Gotham had eight shots in the second half but finished with just one shot on target.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.