If Bay FC got it right, the newest expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League has found its heart and soul.
Alex Loera, the former captain for the Santa Clara University women’s soccer team that captured the NCAA College Cup championship in 2021, was acquired as Bay FC’s first player on Wednesday morning.
The 24-year-old central midfielder is coming off an exceptional season with the Kansas City Current, who made Loera the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draft, though she returned to Santa Clara for a final year of eligibility after the pandemic and did not begin her professional career until 2022.
It only took one season for the Current to lock Loera into a three-year contract extension.
But Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton said she had circled Loera as a priority acquisition, and when the team had the chance to acquire her in exchange for $175,000 in allocation money and protection in the expansion draft, Rushton was thrilled to pull the trigger.
“We could not have found a better player and a better person to become the first player in this franchise’s history,” said Rushton. “On and off the field, Alex epitomizes what we stand for and what we want with Bay FC.”
Rushton said Loera is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the league. The club expects her to play a defensive central midfield role, where she can showcase her tenacity and aggression she developed as a central defender at Santa Clara.
Having transitioned back to central midfield, her original role before she became a defender at Santa Clara, Loera has transformed into a complete player, Rushton said.
“She has every asset to be a fantastic central midfielder in this league,” the GM said. “She breaks lines and creates chances… She has composure on the ball, a desire to be on the ball and a desire to help us control possession and dictate the game through possession.”
Since hiring longtime Mountain View Los Altos (MVLA) coach Albertin Montoya as the club’s inaugural head coach, Bay FC has been on a mission to inform the public of its attacking-minded brand of football it hopes to play in its first season at PayPal Park, to begin in 2024.
Rushton has been quick to pull off some trades with other clubs who are trying to avoid losing players in the expansion draft, which will take place on Dec. 15.
One of those teams was Orlando, which sent its first-round pick (No. 8 overall) in next year’s draft to Bay FC in exchange for protection from the expansion draft and $50,000 in allocation money.
Rushton said she’s trying to pull off as many of those trades as she can in order to make it less stressful for players on other teams who are left unprotected during a three-day window before Dec. 15.
For now, Loera is the club’s only player.
“It feels a little weird right now being the only person on the team,” she said. “But Lucy and her team and everyone involved has a great soccer IQ so I can trust they’ll have other players that will make this season go so well and smoothly.”
At Santa Clara, Loera was named the defensive player of the tournament during the Broncos’ run to a title in 2021.
“I have some pretty special ties to the Bay Area,” she said. “As soon as I heard Bay FC would be a team in the league I was so excited, I was like, ‘I’m going to end up back here at some point.’”
Loera said she’s trying to recruit some of her former Santa Clara teammates who are now playing professionally to come join her.
Bay FC will train on the campus of San Jose State University and play its home games at PayPal Park, the 18,000-seat home to the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS.
“It’s going to be electric when we play there,” Loera said. “I’m looking forward to overcoming whatever is thrown at us and trying to win a championship in that first year.”
