BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Coming off their best game of the season, the Chicago Red Stars clearly registered their worst performance of the 2009 season. Sky Blue FC held an advantage in virtually aspect of its game as New Jersey earned its first victory, 2-0, on Sunday in Women’s Professional Soccer play at Toyota Park.The Red Stars’ performance was a complete 180 from their dominant 4-0 victory against the Boston Breakers two weeks ago.
“I don’t think any one of our players had a good game today,” Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes said. “You can’t win games if all your players are underperforming by their levels. This team will bounce back. Unfortunately we didn’t do some basic things well enough. We got exposed and punished.”
The Red Stars’ first loss puts them at 2-1-2 this season. Sky Blue earned its first victory to improve to 1-2-2.
“We came into this game knowing New Jersey didn’t have a win, and it’s always difficult when you’re playing against a team that has absolutely nothing to lose,” Hayes said. “I thought they were the better team from the very first whistle.”
If not the first whistle, Sky Blue definitely established its presence within the first 10 minutes and continually picked part the Red Stars’ defense. New Jersey’s first tally came in the 7th minute, when Collette McCallum set up Sarah Walsh, who made a strong run from the right side and struck the ball underneath the arms of Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson for a 1-0 lead.
“Collette McCallum and I know each other’s game inside and out, so the ball through was just perfect, on a platter. I just had to finish it,” Walsh said. “We’d had three or four games now without a goal, so it’s a huge relief to get a goal and to be up like that. To be honest, I was a little surprised that we were up. I’ve never been so relieved for my club, to actually win a game. We deserved it and we worked hard for it.”
New Jersey gave itself some breathing room in the 79th minute with a Natasha Kai open-net (perhaps already bound for the net) goal. Kelly Parker made a run through the Red Stars’ defense to set up Kai for the 2-0 lead.
Sky Blue held an 11-6 advantage in shots and a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Red Stars did not post a single shot on goal in the first half, and several offensive opportunities were negated by offside calls, particularly a solid ball in the 63rd minute from Cristiane, who was looking for either Carli Lloyd and Karen Carney up front.
“We didn’t get enough pressure up top. We were out-muscled and out-fought in the midfield. And the back four struggled at times in 1-v-1, 2-v-1 moments,” Hayes said. “Caroline Jonsson has had better kicking days. It was a poor team performance. But I know my team well enough. They will bounce back from this and learn from it. You will see a hungrier team come this time next week.”
Next up: The Red Stars host FC Gold Pride at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at Toyota Park. No television or Web cast are available for the match.
SlideTackles.net thoughts: The Red Stars were multiple levels below Sky Blue’s play on Saturday. From a tactical perspective, from an energy perspective, New Jersey dominated in every area. Chicago’s passing was certainly questionable. And the runs didn’t match the passing. There were multiple moments when Carney struck the ball from the wing and you could not tell if she was passing the ball or trying to hit the upper corner of the net.
Though the offense was held at bay, the Red Stars’ defense was the most troubling. Sky Blue probably should have had a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes and had more than a few other opportunities to pad the lead. New Jersey’s front line had plenty of space to work with. Though Heather O’Reilly didn’t score a goal, she had way too much freedom to move the ball. Certainly some credit goes to Sky Blue’s energy, their passing and their runs to the goal. They appeared to be twice as fast to the ball than the Red Stars.
Asked in the post-game if there will be any defensive changes, Hayes briefly acknowledged that there will be some adjustments.
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