Hopeful for another Red Stars run

Reflections of the past two seasons at Toyota Park's press row

The final image of the Chicago Red Stars' 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the always animated Megan Rapinoe running like crazy after netting a goal during the team's home finale.

I'm hopeful that is not the last snapshot of the Red Stars. The organization's ownership has given indications that it would like to return for the 2012 season, and like you, I will wait with anticipation to see how things play out.

I can't help but reflect on the past two years -- one covering the team for pretty much a hobby, then having the privilege to work on the public relations side. I have not taken a single minute of my work for granted. Working in PR or covering professional soccer for a living is an absolute joy as a fan of this fine game, and the Red Stars staff, players and organization as a whole are top-notch.

Those who are understandably skeptical about the "hiatus" lingo, let me just say this ... I have worked for other soccer teams that were visibly on life support, and the Red Stars do not come close to falling into this category. This team has unbridled passion. This team knows how to stretch a dollar. This team knows how to connect with fans and supporters and bring in one of WPS's higher draws in one of the most highly competitive sports markets in the country.

I do not know this team's future, but if any organization could pull off a brief suspension and return, I think the Red Stars could certainly do it.

I want to quickly thank the media folks who either attended the games or wrote about the team from afar. The Chicago dailies (Chicago Tribune stepped up big-time this past season), the online media (too many of you to thank individually, but Windy City Soccer was ALWAYS there), radio (WNDZ's Sportsline, and thanks to WBBM and NPR for some recognition), photographers, some TV segments away from the pitch (WGN, NBC, ABC), the great folks at Zapwater, and the other writers and bloggers out there, we've appreciated the exposure.

Some of you I'll still run into when I'm covering the Chicago Fire or working at Chicago Riot games. But there will be a massive void not having the Red Stars for 2011. (I'll also miss the regular Pinoe references on F#@k Yeah, Chicago Red Stars!)

In my cheesy and non-original way of coping with the team suspending operations, I put together some of my favorite Red Stars memories at Toyota Park over the past two years, seeing as how I had a bird's-eye view of the game from press row.

For a team that came up short of the playoffs in two seasons, there still were plenty of wonderful moments:

 

1. Cristiane's hat trick: I'm amazed even today that Cristiane is the only person in WPS's two-year history to score three goals in one game. I would have thought that the Brazilian would have some company by now. But on July 12, 2009, Red Stars fans were in for a treat as Cristiane netted a triple against FC Gold Pride -- the only hat trick in WPS to date. Cristiane's best tally for me was her final goal where she completely schooled Brandi Chastain and delivered a rocket to the far left post. I wish Cristiane had a few more big moments like that.

2. United against Gold Pride: The Red Stars' first month of the 2010 season was an all-time low -- a 1-4-1 record that led to the dismissal of Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes. It had to be a difficult moment for the players having to come back to the pitch with little time to let that soak in, while at the same time take on a Marta-led FC Gold Pride squad that had won five straight coming into the match. With the coaching search still in progress, Red Stars President and General Manager Marcia McDermott took the coaching reigns for one game on May 29, 2010, and a united Red Stars squad pieced together a victory. Kosovare Asllani netted a 55th-minute goal and a well-deserved celebration at the northeast corner of the pitch. Chicago kept Bay Area off the scoreboard the rest of the way for an exciting 1-0 win.

3. Running off into the sunset: I wish there were more people who outwardly wear their love of the game like Megan Rapinoe. Pinoe was having a tremendously difficult 2010 season. She knew it. Everyone knew it. But heading into the season finale against the Washington Freedom on Sept. 5, 2010, with nothing to play for except pride, Rapinoe tallied the second goal of the game and dashed to the Red Stars bench. Her teammates had a difficult time trying to catch up to her! That gave Chicago a 2-0 lead, and that goal proved to be incredibly important. The Freedom's Beverly Goebel tallied a goal 1 minute later, but the Red Stars held off Washington for the final minutes of stoppage time. Whew! This also marked the first run of back-to-back wins in the team's history.

4. Four scores: In the first season, the Red Stars were touted to be a favorite to compete for the first WPS title. And early on in the season, Chicago looked like it was on the right track with a 2-0-2 start. That fourth game included a dominating 4-0 victory over the Boston Breakers on April 25, 2009. Though clearly Boston did not play well, the Red Stars took advantage with four different players tallying a goal: Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Karen Carney and the hard-nosed Brittany Klein tallied their goals in a span of just over a half hour. That was the absolute high point of the season, before the bottom fell out and the team was winless and scoreless in three straight home games in May. I prefer to forget about that massive drought.

5. Another festive finale: The Red Stars had a knack of at least closing on the right note. On Aug. 2, 2009, a record 7,959 fans came out to see Chicago's home finale against Marta and the regular-season champion Los Angeles Sol. Cristiane vs. Marta was the interesting Brazilian draw, but Marta was kept off the scoreboard as the Red Stars earned a 3-1 win. It took a second-half stoppage time goal for Cristiane to get in the scoring column. Lindsay Tarpley had a goal and assisted a long-awaited goal from Carli Lloyd, who had only two tallies on the season.

Thanks Red Stars! Don't wander off too far!

Charlie Corr
Chicago Red Stars Communications Manager

• Feel free to share your favorite Red Stars moment below. First road win at Saint Louis Athletica? Ella Masar's LONG-awaited first goal? Would love to hear it!

RED STARS 3, L.A. SOL 1

First-place Sol allow season-high 3 goals to Red Stars

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Heading into the 2009 Women’s Professional Soccer season, the Los Angeles Sol and Chicago Red Stars were thought to be two of the better organizations to take home the inaugural title.

The Sol have lived up to their billing, securing a place in the title game. The Red Stars missed the playoffs. But on Sunday, Chicago showed some life with the combinations that were thought to make a significant impact from the get-go, especially in the midfield.

Carli Lloyd (pictured), Lindsay Tarpley and Cristiane each provided a goal as the Red Stars defeated the Sol, 3-1, in front of a record Red Stars crowd of 7,959 at Toyota Park.

In some ways this result was both sweet and bitter for the Red Stars (5-9-5), since it was a high-quality win against the Sol (11-3-5), but did not have any bearing toward a postseason.

“This game in some levels is meaningless, to us at least because we are out of the playoffs. For me, this is a benchmark - a building platform for next season,” Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes said.

“If we bring consistent elements to our game every time we play, we’re going to be a competitive team, and we hope to win,” Tarpley said. “So whether we’re playing a first-place team or whoever, it doesn’t matter. Every game is important. And we’re disappointed we’re not in the playoffs. That’s fair to say, and that’s our goal. We want to be at the top of the league. We’ve got some work to do. But today, I think it was great for us to go out there and play well and have fun.”

Lloyd’s first-half goal was set up by Tarpley on a give-and-go in the middle of the field. Lloyd got a right foot on the ball and found the back of the net past Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc in the 24th minute for a 1-0 lead.

The Lloyd-Tarpley combination was probably a welcome sight to Red Stars fans, especially since in the preseason this was supposed to be a bread-and-butter mode of attack. They are two allocated players with U.S. Women’s National Team experience and an already successful career before WPS.

“Today there was no pressure on us. This was like the first game where there was no pressure,” Lloyd said. “Sometimes you play better, and we just went out there and played hard. Tarp and I have a good relationship on the field, as well as with the national team.”

Chicago came out at halftime and immediately added to its lead in the 47th minute. Megan Rapinoe provided a cross from the left wing. Brittany Klein headed the ball to Tarpley, whose header found the goal for a 2-0 advantage.

And though the Sol cut the Red Stars’ lead to 2-1 later in the half, Chicago responded with a Cristiane tally, with Ella Masar assisting, in stoppage time for the eventual 3-1 final.

The Sol’s Han Duan netted a 90th-minute goal, and the team definitely had some other chances. The best defensive stop from the Red Stars’ perspective came in the 55th minute, when Brazilian sensation Marta put a ton of pace on the ball and Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson somehow managed to react quickly enough to her left to stop the strike and maintain the 2-0 lead at that point.

“Marta is very threatening, and dangerous. But that’s Marta for you,” Hayes said.

Jonsson made six saves and LeBlanc made four for L.A.

* * *

Next up: The Red Stars conclude their 2009 season for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at St. Louis Athletica.

* * *

SlideTackles.net thoughts: This was the Red Stars team everybody expected from Day 1. The close calls on the defensive side were expected against L.A.’s high-octane offense. But the midfield contributions and the ability to respond to an opposing team’s goal were clearly elements that this team wanted to showcase earlier in the season on a consistent basis.

Over the course of the season, the focus has been mostly on Cristiane because she has been the main scoring weapon, now with seven goals on the season. Up until her goal, the Brazilian showdown between Marta and Cristiane really didn’t develop. Marta threatened periodically, but her shots were wide of the net or stopped impressively by Jonsson. In the first half, Cristiane attempted to dribble through some cramped spaces and other times was not really present in the attack.

But her goal was a team character builder. This team does have the potential to be in the upper tier of WPS. On Sunday, Chicago tallied more goals against L.A. than any other WPS team. That definitely counts for something, but not in the grand scheme of things.

BRAZILIAN BATTLE: CRISTIANE VS. MARTA

Check out my Examiner.com feature highlighting this Sunday's anticipated Brazilian showdown: the Chicago Red Stars' Cristiane and the Los Angeles Sol's Marta. This is the last home game of the Red Stars' inaugural Women's Professional Soccer season. The Red Stars are expecting one of their biggest crowds of the season for this clash against the first-place Sol.

~ Charlie Corr
Chicago Sports Examiner at Examiner.com
SlideTackles.net creator and editor