Jess Fishlock Scores a Minute Off the Bench as Reign Edge Bay FC 3-2 in San Jose Thriller

Jess Fishlock had been on the field for about a minute. That was all the time she needed to ruin Bay FC's evening.

The Seattle Reign FC veteran entered in the 84th minute, ran onto an Emeri Adames ball over the top in the 85th and drove a right-footed finish into the bottom left corner, giving Seattle a 3-2 win over Bay FC on Saturday evening at PayPal Park. It capped a wild night in San Jose in front of 11,439 fans: Seattle went up 2-0 inside 10 minutes, Bay clawed all the way back to 2-2, and then the Reign pulled the oldest move in the playbook. Send on the veteran, get out of her way.

Two Goals Before the Popcorn Arrived

Seattle came out like it had a flight to catch. In the fifth minute, Maddie Dahlien tore down the left and cut the ball into the six-yard box, where Mia Fishel finished right-footed into the bottom left corner. Per the Reign, it was Fishel's second goal for the club and her first from open play.

Jordan Silkowitz bought Bay a few minutes of peace by stopping Dahlien in the eighth minute and Maddie Mercado in the ninth. It did not last. In the 10th, Dahlien collected the ball in the middle of the box and slotted a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner. Goal, assist, 10 minutes. Some players need a whole season to build a highlight reel. Dahlien needed one cup of coffee.

Bay answered almost immediately, and in style. In the 13th minute, Hannah Bebar carried the ball through the middle off an Aldana Cometti pass and smashed a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner. Bay FC said it was the first goal of Bebar's professional career. Talk about choosing your moment.

The hosts thought they had the equalizer in the 23rd minute when Dorian Bailey bundled the ball over the line, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Bay FC pointed out it was the club's second disallowed goal in as many games, which is the kind of stat that makes a fan base start lighting candles. Silkowitz kept the margin at one by denying Mercado again in the 34th and a long-range Sofia Huerta effort deep in first-half stoppage time, and Seattle went to the break ahead 2-1.

Bay Takes Over the Second Half

Bay head coach Emma Coates sent Alex Pfeiffer on for Sydney Collins at halftime, and the game tilted toward the home side. Pfeiffer fired four shots by herself in the opening 15 minutes of the half, three of them blocked, while Caroline Conti kept winning free kicks in dangerous areas. The Reign absorbed it but took a hit of their own in the 70th minute, when Fishel had to come off with an injury and Adames replaced her.

Coates' changes paid off in the 75th. With Seattle braced for a cross on a free kick, Bebar instead played it short, and Keira Barry, on since the 66th minute, beat Claudia Dickey with a right-footed shot from the left side of the box. Bay FC said it was Barry's first goal at PayPal Park and her second for the club. Three minutes later, Dickey had to make her only save of the night on Claire Hutton. The comeback felt complete. It was not.

Star Turns

Jess Fishlock: One shot, one goal, one minute. The Reign said it was the 50th goal of her career, making her the 10th player to reach that mark, as well as her 15th game-winning goal and 80th regular-season goal contribution. Most players need a warmup. Fishlock apparently just needs a substitution board.

Maddie Dahlien: A goal, an assist and two shots on target before being subbed off in the 78th minute. The Reign said it was only the second time in her career she has recorded multiple goal contributions in a match.

Hannah Bebar: Bay's best player by a distance. A screamer, the assist on Barry's equalizer, and four fouls drawn. She deserved a point.

Jordan Silkowitz: Five saves in a losing effort, coming off a nine-save night against Gotham FC on Wednesday, per Bay FC. She is doing a lot of the heavy lifting right now.

The Turning Point

The 70th-minute change Seattle never wanted to make. Losing Fishel, the opening goalscorer, to injury looked like a gut punch, especially once Barry leveled the match five minutes later. Instead it put Adames on the field, and with Bay pushing numbers forward for a winner, she was the one who spotted Fishlock's run and dropped the ball over the top on the break. A forced substitution assisting a tactical one. Soccer is a funny sport.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: Seattle 8, Bay 3. The Reign put more than half of their 14 attempts on frame.
• Possession: Bay 55.2 percent, plus a 385-313 edge in passes. Neither stat comes with points.
• Saves: Silkowitz 5, Dickey 1.
• Blocked shots: Bay had six attempts blocked, half of them Pfeiffer's.
• Bench impact: Barry scored off the bench for Bay, while Adames and Fishlock combined for the winner off Seattle's.

What It Means

Seattle improves to 7-2-7 with 23 points. The Reign closed a three-game road swing that started with a 3-2 loss at Gotham with back-to-back wins at San Diego and San Jose, and they head home to host Angel City FC at Lumen Field on Sunday, Aug. 9.

Bay falls to 5-3-9 with 18 points and has now lost three straight: 1-0 at Houston, 1-0 at home to Gotham and now this. That stretch came in eight days, and Coates was blunt about the common thread.

"One of the messages to the girls is we just can't start games like that," Coates said, pointing to early goals against both Gotham and Seattle. "You're almost making the job harder than it already is."

The road does not get easier. Bay heads out for consecutive away matches at the Chicago Stars and Utah Royals.

Closing Take

Every great franchise has a closer, the player who jogs in when the lights get hot and ends the conversation. The Yankees had Mariano Rivera and "Enter Sandman." Seattle has Fishlock and a substitution board. Bay did plenty right on Saturday, from Bebar's first pro goal to a gutsy second-half comeback, but it spent the opening 10 minutes digging a hole and the final five watching a legend fill it back in on top of them.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by BayFC.com; additional details from ReignFC.com.