HERRIMAN, UT–One thing the Red Stars will not be doing in Utah is face the North Carolina Courage in the quarterfinals in the NWSL Challenge Cup. An 85th minute goal by Casey Short gave the Red Stars a much-needed 1-0 win over the Utah Royals to assure they will not finish bottom after the first round.
The Red Stars will be somewhere between the fifth and seventh seed pending results on Monday as either OL Reign or the Portland Thorns are assured to finish bottom after their match.
Savannah McCaskill sent a long ball into the box that Short managed to get a head on and beat Abby Smith from close range to put the Red Stars ahead. It was the Red Stars’ first goal in 304 minutes of play.
“We just didn’t give up.” Short said in post-game comments. “We just kept pushing and finally, one of our chances played out”
The defense held firm again and have allowed just one goal in the last 314 minutes of play. Alyssa Naeher made three saves on the night. Red Stars head coach Rory Dames will be banking on that defense in the knockout stages.
“We are going to be hard to break down.” said Dames. “…and we don’t concede a lot when we put our best block out there of our back and our midfielders”.
Meanwhile, the Royals will sixth or seventh themselves after finishing with an identical record as the Red Stars. Their best chance in the match came in the 29th minute when Arielle Ship’s effort was stopped by a diving save from Naeher.
The Red Stars’ next match will either be Friday or Saturday depending on Monday’s results and will be streamed on CBS All Access.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Casey Short (McCaskill) 85
BOOKING SUMMARY:
None
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #26-Tierna Davidson (#32-Zoey Goralski 33), #8-Julie Ertz, #11-Sarah Gorden, #6-Casey Short; #13-Morgan Gautrat (#33-Katie Johnson 46), #10-Vanessa DiBernardo, #24-Danielle Colaprico; #5-Rachel Hill, #9-Savannah McCaskill, #2-Kealia Watt (#7-Michele Vasconcelos 83)
Subs not used: #23-Julia Biingham, #21-Emily Boyd, #30-Hannah Davison, #15-Makenzy Doniak, #19-Sarah Leubbert, #38-Carissa Miller, #12-Yuki Nagasato, #22-Zoe Redei, #25-Cassie Rohan, #28-Kayla Sharples, #29-Bianca St. Georges, #18-Ella Stevens
UTAH ROYALS FC (4-3-3): #1-Abby Smith; #2-Rachel Corsie, #24-Taylor Leach (#7-Elizabeth Ball 25), #66-Gunnhildur Jonsdottir, #6-Kate Bowen (#5-Kelley O’Hara 71); #22-Madeline Nolf (#9-Lo’eau LaBonta 58), #38-Aminata Diallo, #12-Taylor Lytle (#3-Tziarra King 71); #25-Brittany Ratcliffe (#21-Vero Boquete 46), #17-Arielle Ship, #20-Mallory Weber
Subs not used: #18-Nicole Barnhart, #33-Holly Daugirda, #29-Kate Del Fava, #61-Melissa Lowder, #19-Michelle Maemone, #10-Diana Matheson, #8-Amy Rodriguez-Shilling, #30-Marissa Sheva, #42-Raisa Strom-Okimoto, #13-Chestley Strother, #14-Gaby Vincent
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 7-9 UTA
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 4-3 UTA
FOULS: CHI 9-15 UTA
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-3 UTA
CORNER KICKS: CHI 3-3 UTA
SAVES: CHI 3-3 UTA
Referee: Michael Radchuk
Assistant Referees: Tiffini Turpin, Tom Felice
4th Official: Danielle Chesky
Weather: Sunny and 87º
Woman of the Match: Casey Short (CHI)
