Kerr and Nagasato combination takes Chicago into the NWSL Championship
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—A growing combination has come together throughout the last couple of seasons and this past year. But in the best of times in the National Women’s Soccer league semifinal, Sam Kerr was on the receiving end of a perfectly played pass from Yuki Nagasato which resulted in the eventual winning goal as the Chicago Red Stars got past the Portland Thorns 1-0 at SeatGeek Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It also advanced the Red Stars to the NWSL Championship game for the first time against host North Carolina next Sunday in Cary, North Carolina. It’s the first time for Chicago to get past the semifinal in five tries.
“it was the first time we’ve had a lead in the playoffs in five years,” Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames said. “It was great and good to get on the front foot instead of chasing.”
On the goal, coach Dames knows that it’s been a process of building a player’s playability and chemistry on the field. It was an early goal that carried the team to a bigger result.
“When you have somebody like Sam (Kerr) up front and Yuki (Nagasato) passing to some of the half-spaces,” Dames said. “The first goal was huge. It’s really nice to have good players that like to play with good players. They both made a huge transition being a number nine player and being a line player. They understand each others movements and they know how to play off each other. Their space was defined, Yuki sent in a ball with texture, where Sam has to chase onto. It’s a good understanding and hopefully we will see it for years to come.”
On the receiving end, Kerr took advantage of Nagasato’s well-placed delivery and the rest was what Kerr can do to finish it into the back of the net in the eighth minute of play.
“It was an amazing tactical play, it got us pumped,” Kerr said. “But there was a lot of time to go in this game. Honestly, it there was a wide-open gap for me. Vanessa (DiBernardo) told me it was a transition. (Yuki) just found me. I was just focusing on my touch and I was able to get the shot on the goal.”
Going back to a year ago, there was a great deal of disappointment with their semifinal loss to North Carolina in Portland. That had a lot of carry over going into this season. That gave Chicago that hungry feeling for a return trip back to the playoffs and another match up with North Carolina in the upcoming final.
“I think the loss last year in the semifinals, we felt like we let ourselves down,” Kerr said. “We just really had a lot of hard work and came back with a different mentality. We this was going to be our year. We totally deserve to be there and we’re happy to be a part of it.”
