BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Both the Chicago Red Stars and FC Gold Pride were coming off of disappointing shutout losses last week in Women’s Professional Soccer play. The Bay Area turned the tide, but Chicago could not break through with a goal.The Gold Pride topped the Red Stars, 1-0, on Saturday night at Toyota Park, and Chicago (2-2-2) dropped its second straight during a five-game home stand.
“It’s a quiet locker room in there right now, because they know they could have gotten more from the game,” Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes said.
The Bay Area improved to 3-3-1, thanks to an early goal and a clean sheet in the second half.
“Defensively, we held strong against an excellent attacking team,” Gold Pride head coach Albertin Montoya said. “Chicago may be the best attacking team in the league, and I have a lot of respect for them.”
This game carried quite a bit of value for the Red Stars because they will lose defender Marian Dalmy and midfielders Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Lindsay Tarpley to the Women’s National Team next week. The WNT takes on Canada on May 25, and the Red Stars’ four stars will not be available for Chicago’s May 23 home match against St. Louis Athletica.
On Saturday, the Red Stars started to create some chances on the offensive end in the first half, and the buildup was evident with Cristiane heavily on the attack, and Rapinoe the main catalyst trying to get Cristiane the ball. Then, in the 30th minute, the Gold Pride grabbed the momentum in a heartbeat.
Christine Sinclair netted the only goal, unassisted. She was the beneficiary of a ball that was booted into the side from their right side and bounced away from Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson. The ball wound up at Sinclair’s feet and she practically dribbled it all the way into the net for a 1-0 lead.
“This was huge for us to get a goal in the first half,” Sinclair said. “We’ve struggled to get goals lately.”
In the net, Jonsson made four saves for the Red Stars while Nicole Barnhart had three saves for the Gold Pride. Barnhart made a clutch save in the 83rd minute on a Karen Carney strike. It was the best Red Stars scoring chance in the second half, but nothing mirrored their attack between the 20th and 30th minutes.
“It’s a little bit disappointing obviously,” Rapinoe said of the turn of events in the first half. “We played really well in that stretch in that moment there. But I think as a player, you can’t let yourself get deflated after they score a goal. We still had plenty of time left in the game. I thought we played well at times today and I thought that we had a lot of attacking chances.”
Next up: The Red Stars host St. Louis Athletica at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at Toyota Park. Not television or Web cast are available for the match.
SlideTackles.net thoughts: The Red Stars needed a victory Saturday for many reasons: to rebound from their previous defeat against Sky Blue FC, to take advantage of their five-game home stand, and to capitalize on having a full roster before they are shorthanded against St. Louis.
Now they have to juggle a few things around to try and match up against St. Louis Athletica. Thankfully for the Red Stars, St. Louis will be without goalkeeper Hope Solo and defender Lori Chalupny, who are joining the WNT.
On Saturday the Red Stars did showcase some creativity with the ball, especially in the first half. Here are just a few moments within that buildup between the 20th and 30th minutes: Rapinoe was called offside in the 21st minute after making a quick run, otherwise she would have had the game’s first goal. In the 27th minute, Rapinoe made a fantastic touch with the outside of her right foot on a cross from the left wing, but it was just out of reach for Cristiane. Then in the 29th minute, Cristiane had a shot on goal after another good setup by Rapinoe.
“I think the first half, our attacking play was exciting. I think it was the best we’ve been this season,” Hayes said. “I think Cristiane proved her worth and her abilities.”
Thankfully Cristiane’s attacking skills are available next week. She and Carney will need to shoulder the load offensively when they are shorthanded against St. Louis.
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