Chicago, 14 May 2017 – The Chicago Red Stars and Boston Breakers traded chances and Alyssa Naeher and Abby Smith traded big saves in the 1-1 draw. Chicago’s inability to contain Boston’s Rose Lavelle came back to bite them in the 69th minute as Lavelle opened the scoring for the evening. The Red Stars never gave up and Christen Press salvaged the draw, scoring off a header in the 89th minute.
Both teams put chances wide of goal early on. Then, twenty minutes in, goalkeepers Abby Smith and Alyssa Naeher began a bit of a battle of one-upmanship. First, Smith charged out to cut the angle as Christen Press sprinted onto a ball behind the Breakers’ back line. Smith’s bravery paid off and Press could find neither the shot, nor the pass to a wide-open Julie Ertz near the penalty mark. Barely a minute later, Naeher made a gutsy save of her own. Running out from her goal line, she blocked a shot right off the boot of Adriana Leon running onto a cross. The teams’ back lines also had their fair share of good stops to keep the match knotted at zero.
The Red Stars came out pressing in the second half. Vanessa DiBernardo fired a rocket toward the lower left corner of the goal. Abby Smith was there once again for Boston, making the big save. Smith followed the parry with a nice punch of the ensuing corner kick.
Rose Lavelle wreaked havoc in the midfield throughout the match, making several long, uncontested runs through the center of the park. The Red Stars were lucky to stop her getting a clean shot in the first half. Their inability to contain Lavelle bit them in the 69th minute. Lavelle stripped the ball from Julie Ertz and made another uncontested 50 yard run through the middle. This time, instead of trying to fight her way through Chicago’s backline, she dished the ball to Margaret Purce on her left. Purce dribbled into the penalty area from the left flank, beat Arin Gilliland, and drilled a right-footed shot into Katie Naughton. The rebound bounced to Lavelle who curled a neat left-footed one-timer between Naughton and Ertz and into the far corner of the goal to give Boston the 1-0 lead.
Chicago won a free kick in the 74th minute and used the opportunity to switch to a three-back to chase the match, inserting Jen Hoy for Samantha Johnson. Danielle Colaprico then served a dangerous ball into the Breakers’ penalty area. Smith again set the save-to-beat with a great double-punch save of the free kick. Her first punch didn’t send the ball quite far enough away. She chased the ball out and met it again with her fists to make sure the danger was cleared.
In the 77th minute, Casey Short created a huge chance for Chicago, driving a ball in on goal from 30 yards out. Smith mishandled the save and the rebound fell to Allysha Chapman. Chapman kicked the ball back to Smith who then picked it up. Colaprico set the resulting indirect free kick in motion and Press fired a high shot toward goal. As Boston’s wall jumped, it looked as though Natasha Dowie may have played the ball with her arm to keep it out of the net. The Red Stars appealed for a handling call, but no call was made.
It looked as though Boston would get the win, with a defensive change in the 83rd minute and Smith continuing her strong performance, cutting out a tough cross in the 86th minute. Indeed, Purce almost sealed the deal for the Breakers a minute later, getting in alone on Naeher. However, Naeher came up with the huge breakaway save and perfect, punted distribution to Press breaking toward the Boston goal. Press put her shot well wide.
The Red Stars kept up the pressure and finally, Sofia Huerta played cross from the right wing along behind the Breakers’ defensive line. A wide-open Press met the ball with her head and nodded it past Smith to put the game on even terms at 1 each.
Chicago wanted more and kept at it through the three minutes of stoppage time. Naeher started another counter-attack and Press nearly scored the game winner, this time keeping her shot on frame. Smith made the save to preserve the draw for Boston.
Next matches:
Chicago (2-2-1, 7pts) travels to North Carolina to see how they stack up against the Courage (4-1-0, 12 pts) )on Sunday, 21 May. Kick-off is at 4pm EDT.
Boston (2-2-1, 7pts) hosts the Portland Thorns (2-1-2, 8pts) )on Friday, 19 May. Kick-off is at 7pm EDT.
Line-ups:
Chicago Red Stars:
Naeher; Short, Johnson, Naughton, Gilliland; Ertz, Colaprico, DiBernardo; Huerta, McCaffrey, Press (C)
Substitutes:
46’ Mautz in for McCaffrey
66’ Green in for DiBernardo
74’ Hoy in for Johnson
Boston Breakers:
Smith, Chapman, Westphal, Oyster, King (C), Salem, Frisbie, White, Lavelle, Leon, Dowie
Substitutes:
46’ Purce in for Frisbie
84’ Elby in for Leon
Misconduct:
73’ Yellow – Julie King (BOS)
