Chicago Red Stars 2-1 Utah Royals
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Yuki Nagasoto scored a late goal and made a pivotal save off the line in the second half. Those two occurrences added up for the Chicago Red Stars’ 2-1 victory over the visiting Utah Royals at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday night.
Vanessa DiBernado also scored for the Red Stars, while ex-Red Star Christen Press found the back of the net for the Royals.
It was the final regular season game for Chicago which left them at 14-8-2, 44 points. With Portland losing time Reign FC, 2-0, on Sunday, the Red Stars will host their first playoff game since 2015 on October 20th. Time TBA.
“We played some real good games here being the better team and not gotten points,” Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames said. “We just figure out ways to win. We know that we can perform better, but a win is a win. We’ll just see how the next two games (with Portland) play out.”
As for the match at hand, the Red Stars made it work in its own favor and the Royals (9-10-4, 31 points) were eliminated from playoff contention.
Vanessa DiBernardo put the Red Stars on the board first in the 40th minute of play with a strike from about 25-yards inside the let goal post for a 1-0 lead.
“The ball kind off fell to me,” DiBernardo said. “I just made sure it was on target.”
However, the Royals evened the match two minutes later. Gunny Jonsdottir sent a service into the box, Press ran on the ball and sent a header into the back of the net.
In the 68th minute, Utah thought they had the lead with a ball that was sent into the box by Press and found its way over and past the Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher. Katie Stengel ran onto it and volleyed it for the open net, but on the spot for Chicago was Julie Ertz clearing the ball off the goal line and saving the goal opportunity.
“Not sure if it’s a dramatic word of sliding,” Ertz said. “I just poked it out and I was in the right place at the right time. The shot didn’t have too much pace. It really did happen so fast.”
Sam Kerr, who set the NWSL record off goals last was trying to add on her goal total of 18 and nearly found her 19th. On a point blank shot on top of the box, Royals keeper Nicole Barnhart made the save, but the deflected off of her which Nagasato ran onto it and finished for the game winning goal in the 85th minute.
The Red Stars found a way for the dramatic victory and finish, but it wasn’t one of their better performances compared to other victories.
“I think we had a hard time finding rhythm,” Dames said. “Probably credit to Utah, they came in here on short rest and put us on our back foot a little bit. I think we struggled with the ball a little bit. Our ability to keep it in small spaces got away from us a bit. They were there to pounce on it.”
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Vanessa DiBernardo (unassisted) 40
UTAH-Christen Press (Gunny Jonsdottir) 42
CHI-Yuki Nagasato (unassisted) 85
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Casey Short (yellow, unsporting behavior) 67
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #1-Alyssa Naeher, #6-Casey Short, #8-Julie Ertz, #26-Tierna Davidson, #14-Sarah Gorden, #24-Danielle Colaprico, #13-Morgan Brian (#5-Katie Naughton 87′), #10-Vanessa DiBernardo (#2-Nikki Stanton 76′), #12-Yuki Nagasato, #9-Samantha McCaskill (#33-Katie Johnson 65), #20-Sam Kerr
Subs not used: #15-Maria Sanchez, #18-Mackenzie Arnold, #23-Brooke Elby, #32-Zoey Goralski.
UTAH ROYALS FC (4-3-3): #26-Nicole Barnhart, #33-Rachel Corsie, #4-Becky Sauerbrunn, #8-Amy Rodriguez, #9-Lo Labonta, #11-Desiree Scott, #20-Mallory Weber, #21-Vero Bouqette, #23-Christen Press, #25-Katie Stengel, #66-Gunny Jonsdottir.
Subs not used: #1-Abby Smith, #14-Gabby Vincent, #15-Emily Tymrak, #9-Michelle Macmone, #6-Katie Brown, #22-Maddie Nolf, #42-Raisa Strom-Okimono
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 8-11 UTA
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 5-4 UTA
FOULS: CHI 6-7 UTA
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-2 UTA
CORNER KICKS: CHI 3-5 UTA
SAVES: CHI 2-3 UTA
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant Referees: Melissa Gonzalez, Rachel Smith
4th Official: Neven Stojsavljevic
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 57º
Attendance: 4,839
Woman of the Match: Yuki Nagasato (CHI)
Chicago Red Stars
Utah Royals
