Bay FC Experiencing Summer of Moreau

Maddie Moreau was Bay FC's breakout player during the NWSL x Liga MXF Summer Cup and has been rewarded with increased opportunities in the lineup.

There were a few young players who impressed for Bay FC during the NWSL x Liga MXF Summer Cup over the past few weeks. We’ll talk more about a couple of the other players who made an impact later on down the road, but from mid-July to the beginning of August, it was the summer of Maddie Moreau in San Jose. 

Photo Courtesy of Bay FC

First Career Goal

In the 63rd minute of Bay FC’s opening match of the Summer Cup, they trailed 2-0 to the San Diego Wave. At that point, Moreau went on to score her first professional goal. Head coach Albertin Montoya was using the competition to give an opportunity to players who weren’t always listed on the starting eleven.

While many others played well, Moreau went above and beyond. Bay would go on to lose that game, with a final score of 3-1 but with a few of their key players on international duty, this tournament wasn’t necessarily about the wins and losses. It was about evaluating and developing the young players more than anything it seemed, and Moreau showed after just a single game that she deserved a more prominent role at the club. 

Momentum is a dangerous thing for a player, if it’s going against them, it can feel like they’ll never bounce back to their normal level of play. With that being said, if it’s working in their favor, it can elevate them to the next level. That’s exactly what was happening for Moreau over the course of the Summer Cup.

She followed up her first career goal with her first-ever goal at PayPal Park on Friday night against Club America. It was a big occasion, as Bay FC was facing their first-ever reunion with a former player as Scarlett Camberos was in the opposing starting eleven. That was everyone’s focus heading into the night, but Moreau changed that just a few minutes into the match when she opened the scoring when she found the ball at her feet with no defenders in sight. Later in the first half, she nearly scored again but she ran out of room, and as a result, her shot went just wide. 

Impressive Defensively

Now, the story would likely end there if Moreau were a forward. She’s had an impressive streak offensively now that she’s been given opportunities on a regular basis, but one thing I have yet to mention is the fact that she’s an outside back.

Montoya did play her in a more offensive position during the Club America game, but that’s not her typical role with the team. Offensive production isn’t always her main priority, but she’s been able to create quite a few chances for her teammates while remaining solid defensively, which is the most important aspect of her performances. She was doing a good job earning possession in the defensive third of the pitch and was positioning herself well to disrupt any opposing scoring chances. 

While Moreau hasn’t been perfect over the course of the Summer Cup, nobody ever is and she’s shown that she has much higher potential than many have given her credit for. The 23-year-old Louisiana native went undrafted during the 2024 NWSL Draft despite impressive performances with LSU and West Virginia at the NCAA level. Now, she’s proving that she belongs and a lot of teams will certainly regret passing over her if she continues to develop at the rate she has been. 

While the team’s results weren’t ideal over the course of the Summer Cup, the coaching staff certainly need to be happy with what they’ve seen from Moreau and I expect to see her in the starting eleven more regularly moving forward. The summer of Moreau seems like it may just be beginning, as her confidence is on the rise, and only good things can come from that.