Angel City FC lorded it over its newest California rival in a National Women’s Soccer League opener Sunday afternoon, dominating the ball and repeatedly pelting upstart Bay FC’s net while permitting few good looks at the other end.

It was a rout, except it wasn’t. The soccer gods have a wicked way with the tools of the game, a sly sense of serendipity, an unabashed delight with a pesky underdog, and they were in full force here, weaving a bit of magic in the San Jose-based visitors’ debut.

Nigerian striker Asisat Oshoala tallied on an early gift, Canadian goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx came up big again and again, and Hawaiian right back Caprice Dydasco capped a phenomenal day by clearing the would-be equalizer off the goal line as stoppage time started, sending Bay FC home with a most treasured 1-0 victory at BMO Stadium.

“As they say, we ‘didn’t break,’ ” head coach Albertin Montoya said when he met the media afterward. “We ‘bent’ quite a few times, and it’s quite inspiring: First win as a franchise, and they won it because they just believed in themselves and had so much passion and just the desire to come out on top.”

They might have the game for that, too, given time. The connections aren’t fully functioning, as to be expected, after not quite two months of preparation — some of that without the spiciest acquisitions — and before attacking centerpiece Racheal Kundananji, acquired for a women’s record $785,000, has had a chance to join in.

This’ll do for now.

“This heart, passion, this drive that they have to get better, it was just incredible,” Montoya said, on NWSL+’s coverage, before leaving the field. “It’s an overwhelming feeling. You come in against one of the favorites this year — they’re an incredible side — [and] they’ve played some good football, but we just believed in what we’re trying to do here as a club. And the fact that they played with this amount of heart and desire and came out with a win goes a long way.”

It’s a good first on-field step — Angel City and the other California club, San Diego Wave, also won their debuts, two years ago — for a club with regal bearing that harbors bold aspirations.

Former national-team stars (and Santa Clara University alums) Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Leslie Osborne and Danielle Slaton founded Bay FC not quite a year ago, then got busy. They lured in Alan Waxman and his San Francisco-based Sixth Street Partners global investment firm, which committed $125 million, and aggressively built a dynamic roster, dishing out seven figures on the likes of Madrid CFF’s Kundananji — sidelined with a late-February knee injury suffered with Zambia’s national team — Barcelona’s Oshoala, and Arsenal’s Deyna Castellanos, a Venezuelan playmaker.

The goal is to “go big,” club co-chair Wagner told Yahoo! Sports. “We want this to be an iconic global brand.”

‘It was kind of surreal’

Angel City, which launched with similar aims, serves as an inspiration, so how perfect the opportunity to kick things off against this most natural rival.

“Coming here to the stadium as a team, it was kind of surreal, that we are actually doing this,” said Dydasco, who won an NCAA championship across town at UCLA, “Our ownership and out behind-the-scenes management has been working on this for year, and we just wanted to make them proud and make the club proud and all our fans.”

It took some doing. Proulx’s eight saves were borne from wonderful work, defenders cleared two balls off the line, and Angel City’s M.A. Vignola crashed a shot off the left post deep into stoppage time. There was gritty play at the back and a most fortuitous moment up front. Dydasco, who signed as a free agent in November — the second player on Bay FC’s roster — played roles at both ends.

The goal, on Oshoala’s expert finish over goalkeeper Angelina Anderson and under the crossbar in the 17th minute, came from nearly nothing.

Vignola, ACFC’s left back, collected a ball on the flank from center back Paige Nielsen after a quick goal kick, then turned upfield. There was Dydasco, racing in to close off the path, and Vignola turned to feed Nielsen just above the box. Tess Boade, a constant threat, stepped in to cut it off, quickly threading the ball into the box for Oshoala’s first-time shot.

“When the goal went in, I was trying to look back to see if I was not offside, just to make sure …” said Oshoala, who netted 92 goals in 108 games over four and a half years with Barcelona. “It was good, at the end of the day. It was something that gave us the extra confidence that helped us until the end of the game, because being 1-nil up against one of the favored teams to win it all this season [provides] a lot of confidence.”

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