Chicago Red Stars 2-1 Sky Blue FC

by Dan Gaichas

BRIDGEVIEW, IL—It only takes a second to score. And sometimes, it just takes four minutes to erase a mostly indifferent 86 minutes. That was the story for the Red Stars as two goals in four minutes lifted them to a 2-1 win over Sky Blue FC at Toyota Park. The Red Stars retain second place and four points behind North Carolina with a match in hand while Sky Blue FC are now winless in 11 NWSL matches against the Red Stars (0-5-6).

Sky Blue were fast out of the gate and scored after just three minutes when Madison Tiernan headed in a Taylor Lytle corner. For a while, the Red Stars looked a bit rigid and tried to generate virtually every attack through Christen Press.

As it turned out, Press would not be involved in either goal for the Red Stars. Vanessa DiBernardo sent a screamer from 20 yards out beyond the reach of Kailen Sheridan and into the upper 90. Four minutes later, Casey Short made a run down the left flank and sent a low cross to Sophia Huerta  who turned a defender and slotted the ball past Sheridan far post.

“I honestly didn’t really see much,” said Huerta of the goal. “Casey’s ball kind of fell right to me and I got a pretty lucky touch and just saw an open space. Two of the defenders were coming. If I just hit it on my left foot, hopefully it would go in.

“Happy that we got a win and I can play a part in that. And I’m proud of our team for getting three points going into these next four away games.”

For head coach Rory Dames, while it is still early in the season, it was pleasing that his team were able to overturn a deficit despite not being at their best.

“It’s the tenth game of the season. There’s a lot a games left to be played. I wouldn’t say we’re at our best by any means. [Sky Blue] did a really good job of solving our pressure in the first half for a variety of reasons.

“We made some adjustments at halftime and just kind of changed shape. I think Alyssa brought a lot of energy in the second half. Getting herself higher [up the pitch]made a big difference. So how important are the three points? It’s good to finish off the homestand with 10 out of 12 and it’s good to start this next cycle with the first three in nine. But I think the biggest thing is that it’s the first time that we haven’t played well and we still were able to flip the result. We’ve been down in two games that we’ve come and got the first goal and the second goal has been there for us to get and we haven’t been able to get it, and we finally got it. I think those two things are bigger than the three point per se.”

Danielle Colaprico left the match with an apparent ankle injury and was replaced by Taylor Comeau who was cleared midweek to play after suffering a lung contusion last week against Boston.

The Red Stars, now unbeaten in their last six, now head on the road for four straight starting on Wednesday night at Seattle. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is at 9:30pm CT on the go90 app and online at NWSLSoccer.com.

SCORING SUMMARY:

NJ-Madison Tiernan (Lytle) 3

CHI-Vanessa DiBernardo (unassisted) 63

CHI-Sophia Huerta (Short) 67

BOOKING SUMMARY:

None

CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-1-2):  #1-Alyssa Naeher; #3-Arin Gilliand, #5-Katie Naughton, #16-Sam Johnson, #2-Jen Hoy (#4-Alyssa Mautz 46); #6-Casey Short, #8-Julie Ertz, #24-Danielle Colaprico (#7-Taylor Comeau 76); #11-Sofia Huerta, #10-Vanessa DiBernardo,#23-Christen Press

Subs not used:  #18-Michele Dalton, #19-Summer Green, #30-Lauren Kaskie, #9-Stephanie McCaffrey, #14-Sarah Gorden

SKY BLUE FC (4-2-3-1):  #1-Kailen Sheridan; #33-Erin Simon (#8-Erica Skroski 53), #3-Christie Pearce (C), #22-Mandy Freeman, #15-Kayla Mills; #11-Raquel Rodriguez (#5-Maya Hayes 87), #16-Sarah Killion; #73-Madison Tiernan, #6-Taylor Lytle  (#10-Daphne Corboz 71), #2-McKenzie Meehan; #20-Sam Kerr

Subs not used:  #27-Caroline Casey, #5-Maya Hayes, #17-Dominique Richardson, #12-Kim Decesare, #19-Kelley O’Hara, #8-Erica Skroski

TOTAL SHOTS:  CHI 12-8 NJ

SHOTS ON GOAL:  CHI 5-4 NJ

FOULS:  CHI 8-5 NJ

OFFSIDES:  CHI 4-1 NJ

CORNER KICKS:  CHI 7-5 NJ

SAVES:  CHI 3-3 NJ

Referee:  Karen Abt

Assistant Referees:  TJ Zablocki, Jeremey Kieso

Fourth Official:  Calin Radosac

Weather:  Cloudy and 72º

Attendance:  3,720

Woman of the Match:  Casey Short (CHI)