Chicago Red Stars 3-1 North Carolina Courage
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—It had been 330 days (15 matches) since North Carolina Courage had last lost a match (to Utah). That streak ended on a rainy night in Bridgeview as the Chicago Red Stars defeated the Courage, 3-1, at SeatGeek Stadium.
Both teams were missing their quartet of US National Teams on international duty in Santa Clara this afternoon: Alyssa Naeher, Julie Ertz, Tierna Davidson, and Morgan Brian for the Red Stars; and Abby Dahlkemper, Crystal Dunn, Samantha Mewis, and Jessica McDonald for the Courage. Additionally, Alyssa Mautz was out for the Red Stars with a knee injury and Katie Johnson was suspended after last week’s red card in Utah.
The Red Stars broke though first on the counter in the 13th minute when Yuki Nagasato fed Sam Kerr. Kerr’s shot got under the arms of Katie Rowland and into the net. The Courage bounced back 20 minutes later as Lynn Williams scored on the volley from Merritt Mathias’s ball into the box.
Parity would last for just seven minutes on this Mother’s Day as one of the mothers on this squad, Michele Vasconcelos, shot between two defenders and beat Rowland far post to make it 2-1. Vasconcelos got the start on Sunday after a run of good performances and after having a child the previous year.
“I had just come off of having (her daughter) Scarlett,” said Vasconcelos. “Adjusting to the league was definitely difficult, but having a year under my belt I felt stronger, more confidence, and it feels like a whole different player.
“Just being more time off from my pregnancy. I think just adjusting to motherhood, too, was a hard transition for me.
The Red Stars would withstand the pressure from the Courage and would ultimately get insurance deep into stoppage time as a deflected ball went right to the feet of Sam Kerr and she had her fourth of the season in her last home game before representing Australia in the Women’s World Cup next month.
“I’m relieved,” said Kerr. “I getting a bit scared that was I dipping out of form. But I owed that one to my teammates after missing a few sitters in the last two games. It’s nice to get the win at home and that puts us in a good position. It’s always nice when you score goals and it was a good win.”
Courage head coach Paul Riley felt his team’s performance was lacking the usual flare in the loss.
“The better team won tonight,” said Riley. “We didn’t get going at all and we were lacked our usual energy. We’re usually a high-press team, but we couldn’t get the ball back quick enough. They had us in transition. We just never really got going.
“I look at the performance more than the result and the performance just wasn’t what we would expect from our group.”
The Red Stars travel to Houston next Sunday to take on the Dash at 5pm CT while the Courage return home to host Utah next Sunday at 4pm CT.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Sam Kerr (Nagasato) 13
NC-Lynn Williams (Mathias) 33
CHI-Michele Vasconcelos (Kerr) 40
CHI-Sam Kerr (unassisted) 90+3
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Nikki Stanton (caution, tactical foul) 72
NC-Leah Pruitt (caution, endangering the goalkeeper) 80
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #21-Emily Boyd; #6-Casey Short, #5-Katie Naughton, #14-Sarah Gorden, #3-Arin Wright; #2-Nikki Stanton, #24-Danielle Colaprico; #12-Yuki Nagasato (#23-Brooke Elby 75), #10-Vannessa DiBernardo (#31-Jenna Szczesny 90+3), #7-Michele Vasconcelos (#15-Maria Sanchez 65); #20-Sam Kerr
Subs not used: #30-Hannah Davison, #16-Alison Jahansouz, #28-Kayla Sharples, #32-Zoey Goralski
NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE (4-2-2-2): #0-Katie Rowland; #11-Merritt Mathias, #6-Abbey Erceg, #21-Cari Roccaro, #15-Jae Hinkle; #8-Denise O’Sullivan, #7-McCall Zerboni; #10-Debinha, #23-Kristen Hamilton (#20-Ryan Williams 76); #16-Julia Spetsmark (#12-Leah Pruitt 57), #9-Lynn Williams
Subs not used: #37-Sam Leshnak, #25-Meredith Speck, #3-Kaleigh Kurtz, #4-Liz Eddy, #17-Heather O’Reilly, #20-Ryan Williams
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 9-16 NC
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-5 NC
FOULS: CHI 3-5 NC
OFFSIDES: CHI 3-5 NC
CORNER KICKS: CHI 5-10 NC
SAVES: CHI 4-0 NC
Referee: Greg Dopka
Assistant Referees: Katarzyna Wasiak, Jeffrey Swartzel
4th Official: Rebecca Pagan
Weather: Overcast and 52º
Attendance: 2,113
Woman of the Match: Sam Kerr (CHI)
Chicago Red Stars
North Carolina Courage
