The Chicago Red Stars took sole possession of the top spot in the league with their 3-0 win over the Boston Breakers. Sofia Huerta netted a goal early in each half for her brace, Casey Short added a third goal, and Vanessa DiBernardo had two assists. On the defensive end, Alyssa Naeher recorded her 6th shut-out for the Red Stars.
Chicago was in the driver’s seat right from the start. A nice build up led to Sofia Huerta’s first goal of the game in the third minute; her first with the US National Team players in the lineup. Arin Gilliland sent a long, diagonal ball in search of Christen Press. The pass was a bit heavy, but Press tracked it down near the goal line in the left corner of Boston’s penalty area. She passed the ball back to Vanessa DiBernardo inside the top left corner of the 18. DiBernardo laced a centering pass through Boston’s defense to Huerta who touched the ball into Boston’s net.
Huerta and the Red Stars came out firing in the second half as well, scoring a mere two minutes into the half. Chicago built the attack from their back line, switching the point of attack through the midfield and getting the ball to Arin Gilliland on the right. The Breakers allowed Gilliland to carry the ball from midfield almost to their own penalty area. Boston finally intercepted Gilliland’s attempt at a final pass. Working hard to regain possession for Chicago, Alyssa Mautz made a well-timed sliding tackle and then fought off two Breakers. She managed to play the ball to Huerta lurking at the top of Boston’s penalty area. Huerta quickly turned and fired a right-footed shot past Breakers’ goalkeeper Libby Stout.
The 55th minute began a deluge of yellow cards. Boston’s Louise Schillgard earned the first yellow, recklessly tackling Amanda Da Costa from behind. Chicago sent the resulting free kick into Boston’s penalty area and Huerta drew the second yellow of the match in the 56th minute. Breakers substitute, Eunice Beckmann, got the third yellow in five minutes by recklessly charging Danielle Colaprico in the 60th minute. The yellow cards given to Schillgard and Beckmann were well-earned. Schillgard’s sliding tackle was quite dangerous, Beckmann ran through Colaprico’s back, and both fouls happened directly in front of the Red Stars’ bench. However, Huerta’s yellow for her challenge on Boston’s goalkeeper, Stout, as she came to collect the ball was a little puzzling. There had been little contact between either goalkeeper and field players previously in the match and it was a 50-50 ball. The temperature of the match at the time didn’t seem to warrant such a card. Beckmann was lucky to escape a second yellow, and subsequently red, in the 61st minute for recklessly jumping into Da Costa, her foot inches from Da Costa’s head.
Christen Press stood over the free kick awarded for Beckmann’s foul on Da Costa and fired the ball around the wall. Stout made a great diving save, but the Red Star of the night got to the rebound first. Huerta tracked down the rebound near the goal line and passed the ball back to DiBernardo. DiBernado played a low, first-time ball to the far post as Casey Short cut in front of a defender. Short slid and got her right foot to the ball to redirect it into the net.
After nine games, Chicago’s offense looks to be coming together. Their play through the midfield has improved over the first half of the season. They are doing a much better job finding each other with passes, playing their teammates into good positions, and holding onto the ball. Going forward, the Red Stars need to be more selective about when to employ a long through ball to skip the midfield. Yes, these are the passes that Christen Press often scores from and a long ball was a big part of Chicago’s first goal in this match. However, the Red Stars lose possession more often than not when they play a long ball. The Red Stars did a good job passing within the Breaker’s penalty area. Huerta’s first goal and Short’s goal were both generated from passes made from near the Breaker’s goal line inside the penalty area. Time will tell if the Red Stars can create more such opportunities in their upcoming match with Portland.
Boston were not without their forays into Chicago’s final third. Their build up was good, but Chicago’s defense was better. The backline stayed compact and kept the Breakers at bay. When Boston found their way around Chicago’s defense, Alyssa Naeher came up with the stop every time.
Next Match:
Chicago (5-1-3, 18 pts top of the table) looks to separate themselves from the pack when they visit second-place Portland (4-0-5, 17 pts) on Wednesday, 22 June. Kick off is at 9pm CDT.
The Boston Breakers (1-7-1, 4pts) are also on the road. They play the Western New York Flash (5-4-0, 15 pts) at 7pm EDT on Friday, 24 June.
Lineups:
Chicago Red Stars 4-4-2 (Flat back with diamond midfield)
Naeher; Gilliland, Johnston, Johnson, Short; Colaprico, DiBernardo, Da Costa, Mautz; Press (C), Huerta
Substitutes:
68’ Hoy for Mautz
70’ Raetzman for Da Costa
82’ Comeau for DiBernardo
Boston Breakers
Stout; King, Engen (C), Kallman, Elby, Pathman; Salem, Mewis, Schillgard; McCaffrey, Simon
Substitutes:
53’ Westphal for Pathman
59’ Beckman for McCaffrey
73’ Wood for Mewis
Goals:
3’ CHI – Huerta (DiBernardo)
47’ CHI – Huerta (Mautz)
62’ CHI – Short (DiBernardo)
Misconduct:
55’ Yellow Schillgard (BOS)
56’ Yellow Huerta (CHI)
60’ Yellow Beckman (BOS)
90+2’ Yellow Simon (BOS)
