Chicago Red Stars 3-1 Washington Spirit
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—The Chicago Red Stars continue to make the most of the “Olympic Phase” of the NWSL season with a 3-1 win over the Washington Spirit at SeatGeek Stadium. The win is the Red Stars’ fourth in their last five matches and vaults them to third in the table.
The Red Stars got going in the 20th minute as Mallory Pugh took a ball from near midfield and led a one-woman counterattack that ended with her beating Aubrey Bledsoe near-post for her third goal of the year.
In the 39th minute, the Red Stars doubled their advantage off the corner that was eventually bundled in by Rachel Hill.
Washington pulled one back in the 72nd minute as Trinity Rodman took the ball from Sarah Gorden and took advantage of a hesitant Cassie Miller and went in on goal beating her and two defenders to cut the deficit in half.
But seven minutes later, a handball in the box led to a penalty for the hosts and Morgan Gautrat, much like the last meeting between the two sides at SeatGeek, scored from the spot.
Miller made up for her error and made five saves overall in the win.
“In the first half we came out on the front foot,” said Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh. “Our formation just tactically led to that energy and wanting to keep the ball, possess, transition and all things attack-minded. That led to the defensive side of it as well.”
It has been remarkable how the Red Stars have been able to climb to toward a playoff place without their four Olympic players in Alyssa Naeher, Tierna Davidson, Casey Krueger, and Julie Ertz. Equally encouraging is how the Red Stars have managed to score goals—either forcing own goals or getting them on their own—as it was an issue at the start of the season.
“Credit to this group because they’ve done a lot more than stick around,” said Red Stars head coach Rory Dames. “They moved us.”
The Red Stars return to action next Sunday at 5pm at home to Orlando Pride. The match will be streamed on Paramount+.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Mallory Pugh (unassisted) 20
CHI-Rachel Hill (Milazzo) 39
WAS-Trinity Rodman (unassisted) 72
CHI-Morgan Gautrat (penalty kick) 80
BOOKING SUMMARY:
WAS-Trinity Rodman (caution, dissent) 30
WAS-Taylor Aylmer (caution, reckless tackle) 68
WAS-Sam Staab (caution, deliberate handball) 79
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #38-Cassie Miller; #11-Sarah Gorden, #3-Arin Wright, #28-Kayla Sharples, #23-Tatumn Milazzo; #24-Danielle Colaprico (#7-Nikki Stanton 85), #13-Morgan Gautrat, #16-Sarah Woldmoe; #2-Kealia Watt (#33-Katie Johnson 84), #9-Mallory Pugh (#19-Sarah Luebbert 90+4), #5-Rachel Hill (#4-Alyssa Mautz 81)
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #32-Zoey Goralski, #14-Zoe Morse, #18-Ella Stevens
WASHINGTON SPIRIT (4-3-3): #1-Aubrey Bledsoe; #21-Anna Heilferty (#30-Camryn Biegalski 63), #14-Paige Nielsen, #3-Samantha Staab, #9-Tegan McGrady; #23-Tori Huster (#27-Tara McKeown 63), #12-Andi Sullivan, #10-Ashley Sanchez; #2-Trinity Rodman, #17-Kumi Yokoyama (#26-Taylor Aylmer 46), #33-Ashley Hatch (#20-Mariana Speckmaier 84)
Subs not used: #18-Devon Kerr, #31-Sydney Schnieder, #19-Dorian Bailey, #24-Chinyelu Asher, #25-Karina Rodriguez
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 12-14 WAS
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 6-5 WAS
FOULS: CHI 13-11 WAS
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-2 WAS
CORNER KICKS: CHI 7-11 WAS
SAVES: CHI 5-2 WAS
Referee: Natalie Simon
Assistant Referees: Deleana Quan, Kaitlyn Trowbridge
4th Official: Erin Patterson
Weather: Sunny and 75º
Attendance: 2,534
Woman of the Match: Cassie Miller (CHI)
