BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Sometimes, one is all it takes. The Chicago Red Stars got that one goal and their third clean sheet in their last four in a 1-0 win over the North Carolina Courage.
The Red Stars started by pressing the Courage and making it very difficult for the visitors to even get into the attacking half. Meanwhile, the hosts kept creating chances and were finally rewarded in the 29th minute when Casey Murphy had trouble handling Morgana Gautrat’s header only for it to come to Rachel Hill for a tap-in for the game’s only score.
North Carolina would come alive in the second half, but would just get one shot on target out of nine overall coming in the 66th minute with Lynn Williams’s effort being swatted away by Alyssa Naeher. Casey Murphy would have seven saves on the day.
Photo: Leslie Smith
One other noteworthy thing was that Red Stars midfielder Alyssa Mautz came on as a substitute making her first appearance since May 3rd, 2019 recovering from two ACL injuries. She would play 19 minutes.
Red Stars head coach Rory Dames does see signs of progress after the opening loss to Portland.
“I thought we were better in all three games we played last week and we won one of the three,” said Dames. “It was good to come back home. We were on the road a lot last week. We struggled (against Houston) on Saturday because of it, but the chance to be on the road together certainly makes it easier to get to know each other outside of soccer.
“The response since we had the Portland game by the group has been great. the work they’ve put in on the field and off the field to grow and come together, also credit to them. So do I think we’re making steps in the right direction? Yes, but we’re a work in progress. We still have a long way to go.”
Meanwhile for Courage head coach Paul Riley, not getting the ball through the midfield, especially in the first half, proved costly.
“Definitely lost in the midfield today for sure,” said Riley. “Chicago dominated the game plan, our box couldn’t get on the ball. We tried to get Sam [Mewis] on the ball a bit more by dropping her deeper in the box. But Chicago looked really good in the midfield, they created great chances. I think it was a fair result to be honest, we created a few more chances in the second half and the subs definitely made a huge difference, but now its back to the drawing board.”
Both teams head to the international break and come back in two weeks. The Red Stars host Washington on June 19th at 7pm CT (Twitch) while North Carolina will look to get back on track earlier that day against OL Reign (3pm, CBS) in Cary.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Rachel Hill (unasssisted) 29
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Sarah Woldmoe (caution, tactical foul) 88
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #6-Casey Krueger, #3-Arin Wright, #26-Tierna Davidson, #11-Sarah Gorden; #10-Vanessa DiBernardo (#7-Nikki Stanton 90+4), #16-Sarah Woldmoe; #5-Rachel Hill (#4-Alyssa Mautz 71), #13-Morgan Gautrat, #9-Mallory Pugh; #2-Kealia Watt (#33-Katie Johnson 82)
Subs not used: #38-Cassie Miller, #24-Danielle Colaprico, #15-Makenzy Doniak, #32-Zoey Goralski, #33-Katie Johnson, #4-Alyssa Mautz, #23-Tatumn Milazzo, #28-Kayla Sharples
NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE (4-2-2-2): #1-Casey Murphy; #11-Merritt Mathias (#13-Ryan Williams 77), #7-Diane Caldwell, #6-Abby Erceg, #4-Carson Pickett; #19-Havana Solaun (#27-Brittany Ratcliffe 85), #8-Denise O’Sullivan (#16-Hallie Mace 64); #5-Sam Mewis (#21-Cari Roccaro 78), #10-Debinha; #14-Jessica McDonald (#23-Kristen Hamilton 64), #9-Lynn Williams
Subs not used: #99-Katie Rowland, #3-Kaleigh Kurtz, #27-Brittany Ratcliffe, #25-Meredith Speck
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 15-9 NC
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 8-1 NC
FOULS: CHI 9-4 NC
OFFSIDES: CHI 3-1 NC
CORNER KICKS: CHI 5-5 NC
SAVES: CHI 1-7 NC
Referee: Laura Rodriguez
Assistant Referees: Tiffini Turpin, Rachel Smith
4th Official: Calin Radosav
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 88º
Attendance: 2,265
Woman of the Match: Rachel Hill (CHI)
