Chicago Red Stars 3-0 Reign FC
BRIDGEVIEW, IL–On Sunday, the temperature was much warmer and all the snow on the pitch from the previous night had melted and the pitch itself looked pristine. Also pristine was the Red Stars performance in this rescheduled fixture as they thumped Reign FC, 3-0, at SeatGeek Stadium.
Before we delve into the match itself, here’s Red Stars forward and President of the NWSL Players’ Association Brooke Elby on the thought process into last night’s decision to postpone.
“My role in [the association]is to make sure that the best interest of the players is always taken into consideration, especially where there’s an environment and conditions that aren’t conducive for the safety of all players,” said Elby. “I think the league did a good job handling it. It was just a little frantic at a time period because it was communicating with everybody. I think everyone did really well with figuring out sorting for today. I know my players feel safe and then we can reschedule for a day where everybody is going to be in a better environment for the fans, the league, the players, everyone.”
Last night, the forecast called for snow across the area, but less so for Bridgeview and points South compared to points North. It was the second latest snow on record for Chicago starting from July 1st which starts the meteorological year. There was also the fact that the Red Stars had a match on Friday at Utah to consider.
“I think once we got out there, it was not what we had expected and we thought and hoped the ice would melt and it’s not something that we have a lot of protocol for because this doesn’t happen very often at the end of April.
“Girls were sort of in between because we have a short turnover for our next game, but we want everyone to stay safe. I think it was a good decision and I’m glad that we got to come out here and perform the way that we did today.”
Megan Oyster of the Seattle Reign faces off against Chicago Red Star Julie Ertz (photo by Leslie Smith).
Perform the Red Stars did on the afternoon. Casey Short pushed forward quite a bit on the day and caught Lydia Williams off her line and was able to loft the ball past for the opening score on 14 minutes.
The second half would be all Red Stars as their attack was on all cylinders. Williams came off her line again and stopped an initial shot by Sam Kerr, but it was straight to Yuki Nagasato who lofted one into the net for 2-0 six minutes into the second half.
There were numerous chances to add to the lead and Reign FC had a golden chance to pull one back at the hour mark, but Jodie Taylor’s effort was cleared off the line by Katie Naughton.
The Red Stars would get their third in the 89th minute from Elby on her first touch after coming on as a substitute from a cross from Michele Vasconcelos.
“I just hear [Coach Rory Dames] screaming, ‘get up the field’ and I’m not naturally a #7 or #11, so it was really exciting just to be involved in the play and then to get a touch and I look up and it’s just me and the goalkeeper and I see the opening between her leg and toe-poked it so you can see my shooting skills at work,” said Elby.
For Reign FC, it’s an 0-1-2 start after three matches, but the concern for coach Vlatko Andonovski is how his team played on Sunday and how to fix it.
“Anytime you lose a game, even if it’s 1-0, you’re not happy. If you lose 3-0, you’re extremely disappointed,” said Andonovski. “At this point, I have to see the video and figure out what didn’t work because there were so many things that did not go well for us that I don’t know where to start fixing it.”
Now the challenge for the Red Stars and other teams will be players leaving for training for the Women’s World Cup in June. The US will announce their initial squad on Wednesday and that will likely include goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, midfielder Julie Ertz, and defender Casey Short.
“I think we have a lot of great players on this team, we have a great staff, and we have the right group to be very successful,” said Red Stars midfielder Danielle Colaprico. “It’s great to see players subbing in and making an impact such as Brooke (Elby) and Michele (Vasconcelos) scoring a goal helping close out the game.”
The Red Stars travel to Utah on Friday for an 8:30pm CT kickoff against the Royals at Rio Tinto Stadium and televised on NBC Sports Chicago while Reign FC will travel to Washington to face the Spirit on Saturday at 7pm ET on Yahoo! Sports.
For photo gallery of the match click here.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Casey Short (Nagasato) 14
CHI-Yuki Nagasato (unassisted) 51
CHI-Brooke Elby (Vasconcelos) 89
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Julie Ertz (caution reckless tackle) 68
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #6-Casey Short, #5-Katie Naughton, #26-Tierna Davidson, #14-Sarah Gorden (#7-Michele Vasconcelos 73); #13-Morgan Brian (#10-Vanessa DiBernardo 61), #8-Julie Ertz, #24-Danielle Colaprico; #20-Sam Kerr, #12-Yuki Nagasato, #33-Katie Johnson (#23-Brooke Elby 88)
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #4-Alyssa Mautz, #15-Maria Sanchez, #32-Zoey Goralski
REIGN FC (4-3-3): #1-Lydia Willams; #13-Celia, #4-Megan Oyster (#8-Theresa Nielson 69), #3-Lauren Barnes, #19-Kristen McNabb; #6-Allie Long, #17-Beverly Yanez (#88-Elise Kellond Knight 69), #20-Rumi Utsugi; #2-Shea Groom, #24-Bethany Balcer, #9-Jodie Taylor (#16-Jaycie Johnson 69)
Subs not used: #18-Michelle Betos, #21-Christen Westphal, #5-Kiersten Dallstream, #12-Morgan Andrews
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 16-16 RFC
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 8-6 RFC
FOULS: CHI 9-9 RFC
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-4 RFC
CORNER KICKS: CHI 5-3 RFC
SAVES: CHI 6-5 RFC
Referee: Danielle Chesky
Assistant Referees: Adrienne McDonald, Kali Smith
4th Official: Zachary Bond
Weather: Sunny and 54º
Attendance: 2,804
Woman of the Match: Yuki Nagasato (CHI)
Chicago Red Stars
Seattle Reign
