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Chicago Red Stars 1-1 Washington Spirit
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—After giving up five goals last Saturday against OL Reign, the Chicago Red Stars defense improved and withstood the onslaught of the Washington Spirit’s attack to gain a 1-1 draw at SeatGeek Stadium.
Having to deal with the Spirit’s attacking trio of Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, and Ashley Hatch was going to be a tall order for the Red Stars, but for a large part kept all three at bay. The Spirit’s only goal would come from the spot in the 29th minute. Hatch converted a penalty kick after Ines Jaurena was felled in the box by Ella Stevens.
The lead would last all of four minutes as Bianca St. Georges played a give-and-go with Ally Schlegel that saw the former score from close range to make it 1-1.
The second half would see the Spirit create most of the chances and wind up with 22 shots on the evening. Six would be on target and eight would be blocked by Red Stars defenders. Alyssa Naeher made five saves on the evening as the Red Stars did well to keep the Spirit at bay and preserve a point.
“It was kind of a brutal week (after Saturday’s loss), honestly,” said Red Stars head coach Chris Petrucelli. “We weren’t happy with the goals that we gave up last week. We questioned a lot of things, but we put it together. We worked little by little, and the effort in the penalty area to defend was outstanding. And that’s what we’ve been lacking, just the effort [such as]blocked shots, get the things, break it up.
“We didn’t do that last week. But we did it this week…And while the back were fantastic, it was a team defending effort. Everyone was ‘all hands on deck’ to defend.”
A match like this is hoped that this will present the blueprint for better things this season for the Red Stars.
“I think it is the kind of match that 1) is a blueprint for how we can be successful and 2) it starts to give you some confidence.”
The Red Stars begin Challenge Cup play on Wednesday night at Houston. Kickoff is at 7pm CT on Paramount+. The Red Stars’ next league match will be Sunday, May 7th at home against Gotham FC. Kickoff for that match will be a 5pm.
SCORING SUMMARY:
WAS-Ashley Hatch (penalty kick) 29
CHI-Bianca St. Georges (Schlegel) 33
BOOKING SUMMARY:
WAS-Tara McKeown (caution, reckless tackle) 17
WAS-Sam Staab (caution, tactical foul) 68
CHICAGO RED STARS (3-4-2-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #6-Casey Krueger, #12-Tierna Davidson, #23-Tatumn Milazzo; #22-Bianca St. Georges (#24-Jenna Bike 75), #4-Cari Roccaro, #7-Yuki Nagasato, #3-Arin Wright; #55-Penelope Hocking (#14-Jill Aguilera 89), #34-Ally Schlegel (#5-Julia Bianchi 80); #8-Ella Stevens (#25-Ava Cook 75)
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #14-Jill Aguilera, #2-Sam Fisher, #16-Sophie Jones, #31-Amanda Kowalski
WASHINGTON SPIRIT (4-3-3): #1-Aubrey Kingsbury; #22-Amber Brooks, #9-Tara McKeown, #3-Sam Staab, #14-Gabrielle Carle; #26-Paige Metayer, #12-Andi Sullivan, #7-Ines Jaurena (#39-Chloe Ricketts 72); #2-Trinity Rodman, #10-Ashley Sanchez, #33-Ashley Hatch (#24-Lena Silano 72)
Subs not used: #28-Nicole Barnhart, #30-Camryn Biegalski, #18-Lyza Bosselman, #17-Nicole Douglas, #16-Madison Elwell, #20-Civana Kuhlmann, #39-Chloe Ricketts, #25-Marissa Sheva, #24-Lena Silano
EXPECTED GOALS: CHI 0.70-1.92 WAS
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 10-22 WAS
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-6 WAS
FOULS: CHI 10-10 WAS
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-2 WAS
CORNER KICKS: CHI 1-9 WAS
SAVES: CHI 5-2 WAS
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistant Referees: John Krill, Chris Canales
4th Official: Rebecca Pagan
VAR: Alexandra Billeter
AVAR: Benjamin Wooten
Weather: Cloudy and 56º
Attendance: 3,610
Woman of the Match: Bianca St. Georges (CHI)
