Growing up in the Bay Area, playing for Bay FC has been a dream come true for rookie forward Karlie Lema.

Lema started playing soccer at a young age of 5 years old, being inspired by her older brother who had a passion for soccer. Being from Morgan Hill and attending Live Oak High School, the decision to attend the University of California was an easy one. “I had gone to the Cal camps since I was little and I knew I wanted to go there,” Lema said. “When I got the offer, it was like I can’t throw this down.”

Lema’s best high school season was her freshman year, when she scored 49 goals and had 7 assists. Through 20 games played, she registered a total 105 points. That season, she was also awarded the “Freshman of the Year Award” by the Central Coast Selection.

Lema ended her high school career playing in 48 games while getting a total of 212 points, 100 goals and 12 assists.

While at Cal, Lema was awarded two different offensive player of the year awards. The first was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and the second was the 2025 ACC Offensive Player of the Year. “I think it just tells people I’m competitive. You know I’m always going to get the ball in the back of the net and that speaks measures,” said Lema.

Lema went on to spend her entire collegiate career at Cal and has a very specific favorite memory. “The best one would probably be this last year when we beat Stanford”. It was a close game but Cal came out with the win 3-2. Lema played 85 minutes in that game, recording two SOG.

Being dedicated to a sport for such a long time, the 22-year-old rookie has had both ups and downs throughout her journey. When asked what her biggest obstacle was to this point, she answered “I dealt with a hip issue that I finally got surgery on. Going through that in recovery but I’m glad to be on the other side now.”

On a more positive note, Lema has had a couple of major accomplishments to reflect on. “I would say making it pro and last year getting ACC Player of the Year was big too.”

Playing professional soccer has been a true dream come true for Lema. Coming into this season, her goal was to learn and add new skills to her belt. “I think I’ve realized that now I’m playing the nine and being able to hold up the ball and not just use speed as my only option,” she said.

The season has now reached the halfway point, with only 12 matches remaining. Looking ahead, Lema has a few goals left to accomplish: “[I want to get] lots of wins, get lots of points, and be the best teammate I can.”

Lema’s had an impressive rookie season so far, and she seems to be on pace to become a key part of the Bay FC squad for years to come.

Photo Credit: Bay FC