Sky Blue FC 3-1 Chicago Red Stars
MONTCLAIR, NJ—The 2020 season for the Chicago Red Stars ended on a losing note as they fell to Sky Blue FC, 3-1, at Montclair State University. They finish the NWSL Fall Series at 1-2-1 and overall finish with a record of 3-5-3 with a penalty shootout win during the NWSL Challenge Cup.
The duo of Midge Purce and Paige Monaghan made the most trouble for the Red Stars this afternoon. Purce sent a low cross to Monaghan for a tap-in in the 25th minute to give Sky Blue the lead. Ten minutes later, Monaghan turned provider sending a cross to Ifeoma Onumonu to make it 2-0.
Just before halftime, Purce and Monaghan combined again, this time with a cross in the air that the latter would head home for a 3-0 halftime lead.
The Red Stars did show improvement in the second half and gave Arin Wright her first minutes since giving birth. Morgan Gautrat would get a consolation goal in the 89th minute heading in a free kick from Tierna Davidson.
The 2020 season was mostly about who could contribute to the team in 2021 and saw nine players make their debuts for the club including Bianca St. Georges and Sarah Luebbert.
“If you would have told me back in March that Sarah Luebbert and Bianca [St. Goerges] were gonna be a big part of our build I probably wouldn’t have thought that,” said Red Stars head coach Rory Dames. “So the fact that they’ve come this far and they both earned the right to be in the lineup today, they worked hard over the last seven to ten days for that. I think the experience today for them will be good because we haven’t even had enough players to move people in and out based on performance as much as survival.”
It almost resulted in the NWSL Challenge Cup as they made the final of that competition in Utah before falling to the Houston Dash.
It was also a season interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and in the the Red Stars just played eleven matches and just two at SeatGeek Stadium (before no fans for safety reasons). Here’s hoping the 2021 season will be much better for the Red Stars.
SCORING SUMMARY:
NJ-Paige Monaghan (Purce) 25
NJ-Ifeoma Onumonu (Monaghan) 35
NJ-Paige Monaghan (Purce) 45+2
CHI-Morgan Gautrat (Davidson) 89
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Tierna Davidson (caution, tactical foul) 11
NJ-Erika Skroski (caution, tactical foul) 51
SKY BLUE FC (4-3-3): #1-Kailen Sheridan; #8-Erika Skroski (#18-Mikaela Howell 89), #24-Estelle Johnson, #22-Mandy Freeman, #28-Imani Dorsey; #17-Dominique Richardson, #5-Nicole Baxter (#15-Sabrina Flores 71), #16-Sarah Woldmoe; #23-Midge Purce, #25-Ifeoma Onumonu, #4-Paige Monahan
Subs not used: #35-Megan Hinz, #21-Amanda McGlynn, #13-Dijana Haracic, #12-Gina Lewandowski, #29-Becki Tweed
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #29-Bianca St. Georges (#3-Arin Wright 46; #33-Katie Johnsosn 77), #11-Sarah Gorden, #26-Tierna Davidson, #6-Casey Short (#32-Zoey Goralski 54); #24-Danielle Colaprico, #13-Morgan Gautrat; #9-Savannah McCaskill, #10-Vanessa DiBernardo, #19-Sarah Luebbert (#14-Zoe Morse 46); #2-Kealia Watt
Subs not used: #31-Kelsey Daugherty, #34-Aerial Chavarin, #18-Ella Stevens
TOTAL SHOTS: NJ 8-22 CHI
SHOTS ON GOAL: NJ 3-5 CHI
FOULS: NJ 5-7 CHI
OFFSIDES: NJ 0-4 CHI
CORNER KICKS: NJ 1-11 CHI
SAVES: NJ 4-0 CHI
Referee: Luis Arroyo
Assistant Referees: Meghan Mullen, Zeno Cho
Fourth Official: Jacqueline Amays
Weather: Fair and 68º
Woman of the Match: Paige Monaghan (NJ)
