BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Women’s Professional Soccer season has been on the short end scoring wise, though it was a bit surprising that no team to this point ever erased a deficit and won the game.The Chicago Red Stars became the first, and in the process ended an assortment of droughts.
Lindsay Tarpley (pictured) and Cristiane scored second-half goals as the Red Stars rallied past the Washington Freedom, 2-1, on Wednesday at Toyota Park. Cristiane’s goal in the 48th minute ended a 451-minute scoreless drought. And with the help of Tarpley’s game-winner in the 61st minute, Chicago recorded its first victory since April 25 against the Boston Breakers.
The victory erased a nine-match winless streak and keeps Chicago (3-6-5) in the playoff hunt. After the Red Stars attacked the Freedom (4-5-4) with an astonishing 28 shots, the team probably deserved to finally get that win.
“The law of averages suggests that the amount of chances we have, we have to bloody put the ball in the back of the net,” Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes said.
The two Red Stars goals had to be a tremendous relief to the Red Stars, especially after having so many chances in that first half. Tarpley had two chances where Freedom goalkeeper Erin McLeod stretched to her left to make the saves. And Cristiane hit the crossbar twice in that half.
“I think we could have ended the game within the first 10 minutes. We had several opportunities, hit the bar, (Washington’s defense) hit one off the (goal) line, and I thought our attack dominated in the first half.”
Yet despite all of those attacks, it was the Freedom that got on the scoreboard first when Abby Wambach had an easy tap-in after the ball deflected off of Red Stars defender Ifeoma Dieke in the 34th minute.
But Washington’s 1-0 halftime lead didn’t last long. In the 48th, Cristiane had her back to the net. But when the ball wound up near her feet, she did a back flick with her left foot to tie the score at 1-all. Then in the 61st, Tarpley drilled a shot in the upper left corner of the net for the 2-1 advantage.
“I was really proud of the way we came together and kept fighting,” Tarpley said. “So to be able to come from behind was a big thing for us.”
Next up: The Red Stars host the Irish National Team at 3 p.m. Sunday at Benedictine University in Lisle. Their next WPS match is at 7 p.m. July 12 against FC Gold Pride at Toyota Park.
SlideTackles.net thoughts: The Red Stars can at least temporarily put a muzzle on the discussion of missed chances or missed half chances. Yes, they probably should have posted more goals with their 28-shot display, but they earned enough for a much-needed victory.
Though Wambach had an easy goal, the Red Stars did a relatively good job defending against the talented Washington forward. With most set pieces, the Freedom typically key on her as the primary source for goals. The Red Stars defense kept a close watch on her, with midfielder Carli Lloyd cutting right in front of Wambach and clearing the ball on a couple of corner kick chances.
The midfield as a whole moved well and maintained a good pace to the game. A heavy dose of talent is within that group, and they lived up to the billing. And the Red Stars’ front line made some strong runs within the gaps of Washington’s defense.
Chicago has played more games than everyone except the first-place Los Angeles Sol. So while they jumped up to fifth in the WPS standings, that simply means that the Red Stars’ six remaining regular-season games are all the more important as they need to start up a winning streak and reach the four-team playoff bubble.
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