BRIDGEVIEW, IL—After four straight trips to the NWSL semifinals ended in defeat, the Chicago Red Stars finally surpassed the semifinal hurdle and advanced to their first NWSL Championship with a 1-0 win over the Portland Thorns before a crowd of 9,218 at SeatGeek Stadium.
The Red Stars will face North Carolina Courage (4-1 winners over Reign FC in the other semifinal) at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, NC next Sunday for the Championship (2:30pm CT, ESPN).
The Red Stars, who had not played since September 28th, got off to a fast start and were rewarded in the eighth minute as the NWSL assist leader Yuki Nagasato’s long ball was pitch perfect to NWSL Golden Boot winner Sam Kerr who then beat Adriana Franch far post for what would be the game’s only goal.
Yuki Nagasato got the assist on Kerr’s goal. (Photo: Leslie Smith)
“Any time Yuki gets on the ball I know I’m probably in on goal,” said Kerr. “It was just an amazing passage of play. I’m glad we could get the goal. I didn’t get super pumped because I thought there’s 90 minutes to go in this game. I thought there would be more.”
Portland could well have been further behind late were it not for a couple of great saves by Franch. The Thorns stepped up the pressure in the second half and had eleven shots on the day, but only two would end up on target. The best chance coming in the 83rd minute when Midge Purce shot straight at Alyssa Naeher.
After defeating the Red Stars on August 25th, the Thorns finished 1-4-1 scoring just once in that span. They would have troubles all game trying to get past the Red Stars after going behind early.
“Unfortunate first half,” said Portland coach Mark Parsons. “They controlled the game with their verticality and we didn’t know how to get the game back. In the second half, we did a much better job of getting back in and select play in the final third.”
For Red Stars head coach Rory Dames, it was a great feeling to banish the semifinal hoo-doo, but that feeling doesn’t last long.
“When the final whistle blew, it was good feeling,” said Dames, “and then about ten minutes later it goes away quick because you realize you have to play North Carolina in North Carolina next week and you kind of move on to that. Super excited for the players, the organization, the fans.”
Having finally getting to the Final, they now must face a North Carolina team they are 2-0-1 against in the Courage. Kickoff is at 2:30pm next Sunday on ESPN and the Red Stars will look to dethrone the Courage.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Sam Kerr (Nagasato) 8
BOOKING SUMMARY:
POR-Elizabeth Ball (caution, reckless foul) 45+1
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #6-Casey Short,#26-Tierna Davidson, #8-Julie Ertz, #14-Sarah Gorden; #24-Danielle Colaprico, #13-Morgan Brian; #12-Yuki Nagasato, #10-Vanessa DiBernardo, #9-Savannah McCaskill (#5-Katie Naughton 76); #20-Sam Kerr
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #33-Katie Johnson, #15-Maria Sanchez, #23-Brooke Elby, #2-Nikki Stanton, #32-Zoey Goralski
PORTLAND THORNS (3-4-3): #24-Adriana Franch; #2-Katherine Reynolds, #16-Emily Sonnett, #4-Emily Menges; #27-Elizabeth Ball (#21-Haley Raso 46), #11-Dagny Brynjarsdottir, #10-Lindsey Horan, #25-Meghan Klingenberg (#9-Caitlin Foord 81); #12-Christine Sinclair, #8-Andressinha (#23-Midge Purce 66); #17-Tobin Heath
Subs not used: #33-Britt Eckerstrom, #15-Elli Carpenter, #7-Anna Crgocevic, #37-Emily Ogle
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 11-11 POR
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 4-2 POR
FOULS: CHI 9-14 POR
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-1 POR
CORNER KICKS: CHI 7-2 POR
SAVES: CHI 2-3 POR
Referee: Danielle Chesky
Assistant Referees: Brooke Mayo, Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Lukasz Szpala
Weather: Clear and 62º
Attendance: 9,218
Woman of the Match: Sam Kerr (CHI)
