Christen Press runs the ball past Orlando. Photo courtesy of Jeff Vorva of Southwest Regional Publishing.
Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames described the 1-0 win over Orlando Pride as “survive, escape, and move on.” Understandable since there was the matter of dealing with Alex Morgan and Sarah Hagen.
Orlando controlled the game in the first half, having most of the possession and most of the chances. The Red Stars back-line had their hands full with both Morgan and Hagen up front, but the best shot of the first 45 came from Kristen Edmonds whose 30-yard shot had to be dealt with by Alyssa Naeher. Christen Press had the best chance for the Red Stars in the 13th minute, but Ashlyn Harris made the save.
The second half continued with more of the same as Hagen and Lianne Sanderson had multiple opportunities that were ultimately denied either by Naeher or the Chicago back four.
The Red Stars got their goal in the 64th minute when Danielle Colaprico sent a perfectly placed free kick to Press who got in behind three Pride defenders and then chipped it by Harris for the game’s only score.
“[Danielle and I] made eye contact,” said Press. “Their line was high the whole game. We were unable to get behind their line in the first half because of the wind. Vanessea [DiBernando] tried to hit me on one. It was a great ball and you could see it hang up (in the wind). Dani played the wind perfectly. She floated it up in the wind and it took it over the center back. I took it and shot it and it somehow went upper 90 into the near post.”
From there, the Red Stars saw out the match and won their second-straight at Toyota Park.
“We weren’t by any means at our best, but they battled it out and Christen [Press] did was Christen does at the right time,” said Red Stars head coach Rory Dames. “And then, we survived. We didn’t give away a lot chance-wise. They got into some dangerous areas, but I thought defensively we did pretty good. People get caught up with territory and that kind of stuff and we’re still a work in progress. But we to create the best chances in the game and we want to score at least one more goal than the other team and we’ve done that two weeks in a row.”
For Samantha Johnson, this was her first time marking Alex Morgan in a match. The strategy was essentially be aware of her movement at all times. “I’ve never had to face her before,” said Johnson. “We just trained not to let her speed kill us and not to let her get behind us. So we were trying to be aware where she was at all times while sorting everybody underneath her.”
Julie Johnston did not play in the match due to thigh soreness, though she was on the sub bench.
The Red Stars travel to Boston on Saturday to take on the Breakers. Kickoff is at 6pm and the match streamed on YouTube.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Christen Press (Colaprico) 64
BOOKING SUMMARY:
ORL-Maddy Evans (caution, reckless tackle) 40
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-3-3): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #3-Arin Gilliand, #5-Katie Naughton, #16-Samatha Johnson, #6-Casey Short; #24-Danielle Colaprico, #4-Alyssa Mautz, #10-Vanessa DiBernardo (#7-Taylor Comeau 89); #11-Sofia Huerta, #23-Christen Press (C), #2-Jen Hoy (#13-Amanda Da Costa 51)
Subs Not Used: #18-Michele Dalton, #8-Julie Johnston, #14-Sarah Gorden, #34-Mary Luba, #15-Courtney Raetzman,
ORLANDO PRIDE (4-3-3): #1-Ashlyn Harris; #9-Josee Belanger, #5-Laura Alleway, #21-Monica Alves, #7-Steph Cately; #12-Kristen Edmonds, #6-Kaylyn Kyle, #18-Maddy Evans (#26-Samantha Witteman 64); #8-Sarah Hagen (#23-Jasmyne Spencer 73), #10-Lianne Sanderson (#14-Becky Edwards 82), #13-Alex Morgan (C)
Subs Not Used: #19-Audrey Bledsoe, #2-Camille Levin, #17-Dani Weatherholt, #4-Jamia Fields, #26-Samantha Witteman
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 11-6 ORL
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 6-4 ORL
FOULS: CHI 7-9 ORL
OFFSIDES: CHI 4-3 ORL
CORNER KICKS: CHI 6-9 ORL
SAVES: CHI 4-5 ORL
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Jennifer Garner, Abigail Van Note
Fourth Official: Edgar Osorio
Weather: Cloudy and 48º
Attendance: 4,024
Woman of the Match: Samantha Johnson (CHI)
