San Diego Wave FC returned to Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday to host Bay FC in bay fc vs san diego wave, with kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. PT and live coverage on Victory+. The matchup came with a familiar edge. All four regular-season meetings between the clubs had ended 2-1, and San Diego had won three of them.
The Wave also had history on their side at home. They had taken both regular-season meetings played in San Diego against Bay FC, including a 2-1 win at PayPal Park on Aug. 16, 2025, when Kimmi Ascanio and Kenza Dali scored second-half goals. Bay’s most recent trip into the rivalry had been a one-goal loss, the kind of margin that has defined every chapter of the series so far.
San Diego entered after a 2-0 loss to Portland Thorns FC on April 29, a game in which Portland scored in the 10th minute through Marie Müller and again in the 64th through Sophia Wilson. The Wave controlled a majority of possession and created multiple chances, but they left Providence Park without a goal. Bay FC arrived after a 3-0 loss to Gotham FC on April 25, when an own goal in the 20th minute, a Rose Lavelle strike in the 40th and a penalty in first-half stoppage time put the game away. Jordan Silkowitz recorded a club-record 12 saves in that match, and Racheal Kundananji returned from injury as a second-half substitute.
For San Diego, the biggest attacking threat has been Lia Godfrey. She entered with four goals, leading the team in scoring and sitting second in the NWSL Golden Boot race. Godfrey had also added a goal and an assist in San Diego’s last match against Denver, where she set a club record for most goals by a rookie. She was the first American to record five goal contributions in her first six league games in the NWSL since Sofia Huerta in 2015.
The series has been close, but the balance has leaned San Diego’s way. Bay has pushed the Wave in nearly every meeting, yet the results have continued to come down to one goal, and San Diego has repeatedly found enough to finish the job. The question on Sunday was whether that pattern would hold again at Snapdragon, where Bay FC had not yet broken through for a win in regular-season play.
