Chicago Red Stars 1-0 Gotham FC
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Carli Lloyd began her professional club career with the Chicago Red Stars in the old WPS in 2009 and her professional career ended in Bridgeview on Sunday as a Mallory Pugh goal was enough to defeat Lloyd’s Gotham FC, 1-0, in the NWSL Quarterfinals.
The goal came in the 61st minute as Sarah Woldmoe forced a turnover and then found a criminally unmarked Pugh in the area to beat Kailen Sheridan far post to give the Red Stars the lead. Gotham, in their first playoff appearance since 2013 when they were Sky Blue FC, had a flurry of chances just five minutes prior, but were denied by Red Stars’ defense.
Lloyd played all ninety minutes in her final professional match, but was unable to extend her career at least to next Sunday.
“For me, (it’s) bittersweet obviously, I would have liked to have kept going,” Lloyd said afterward. “But overall just really proud of the group and the future is really, really bright for Gotham FC.”
Ball possession became key in a match where chances would not be plentiful and the Red Stars got the better of that in the second half according to Red Stars head coach Rory Dames.
“Our expectation was to try to win the game, and we won the game,” said Dames. “So the narratives from the game and the storylines are not so much about us. It certainly was not the most exciting game, but we wanted to win the game, we won the game, so we’ll be pleased with that and move on.
“I thought the first half defensively and out of possession, we were very good, but we couldn’t get hold of the ball. We couldn’t connect the first pass where we want So we kicked up a lot of balls to move the game. But the biggest difference in the second half is that Morgan [Gautrat], Vanessa [DiBernardo], and Sarah [Woldmoe] not only won balls, but were able to keep it for us and connect [with the forwards].”
The Red Stars, who end 9-2-2 at home this season, played in front of their biggest crowd of the season at 7,027 which along with the playoffs was a new experience for goalkeeper Cassie Miller who had another clean sheet.
“We were just so happy to be home in general,” said Miller. “It was insane with 7,000 fans. Me personally, I haven’t played in front of that [many fans]. It was fun and it was exciting. We’re here to win this whole thing, so this was just one step to get there. For me, this is my first NWSL playoffs, so I’ve just been taking this one day at a time, staying calm, staying collected. I know that our team is going to be solid in front of me and if anything slips, I’ll try to be there for them.”
Next up for the Red Stars is a trip top-seed Portland next Sunday (4:30pm CT, CBS Sports Network). The Red Stars opened the season in Portland on the wrong end of a 5-0 thrashing and now the challenge is to make a statement.
“Portland is a tough place in the history of the Red Stars for us to play at, but I’m excited about it,” said Red Stars midfielder Sarah Woldmoe. “It’s going to be an incredible challenge [given the year of adversity]. This is the perfect next challenge is to go to Portland and make a statement.”
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Mallory Pugh (Woldmoe) 61
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Sarah Woldmoe (caution, tactical foul) 51
NJNY-Megan Freeman (caution, dissent) 68
NJNY-Carli Lloyd (caution, tactical foul) 72
CHI-Vanessa DiBernardo (caution, tactical foul) 80
NJNY-Estelle Johnson (caution, tactical foul) 90
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #38-Cassie Miller; #23-Tatumn Milazzo, #11-Sarah Gorden, #26-Tierna Davidson, #3-Arin Wright; #13-Morgan Gautrat, #16-Sarah Woldmoe, #10-Vanessa DiBernardo; #5-Rachel Hill (#4-Alyssa Mautz 84), #2-Kealia Watt, #9-Mallory Pugh (#33-Mallory Pugh 86)
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #15-Makenzy Doniak, #28-Kayla Sharples, #24-Danielle Colaprico, #18-Ella Stevens, #7-Nikki Stanton, #22-Bianca St. Georges
GOTHAM FC (4-3-3): #1-Kailen Sheridan; #3-Caprice Dydasco, #12-Gina Lewandowski (#22-Mandy Freeman 68), #24-Estelle Johnson, #28-Imani Dorsey (#19-Elizabeth Eddy 76); #7-McCall Zerboni (#27-Gaetane Thiney 82), #16-Allie Long, #9-Nahomi Kawasumi (#4-Paige Monaghan 68); #23-Midge Purce, #10-Carli Lloyd, #25-Ifeoma Onumonu (#20-Evelyn Viens 82)
Subs not used: #13-DiDi Haracic, #6-Jennifer Cudjoe, #8-Erica Skroski, #17-Domi Richardson
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 9-7 NJNY
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-2 NJNY
FOULS: CHI 13-13 NJNY
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-5 NJNY
CORNER KICKS: CHI 6-1 NJNY
SAVES: CHI 2-2 NJNY
Referee: Kevin Broadley
Assistant Referees: Jennifer Garner, Mike Nickerson
Fourth Official: Laura Rodriguez
Attendance: 7,072
Weather: Mostly Sunny and 64º
Woman of the Match: Mallory Pugh (CHI)
