Fall to Racing Louisville 3-1
The Red Stars reopened their NWSL campaign on the road against Racing Louisville with a 3-1 loss. Jameese Joseph scored Chicago’s lone goal in an outstanding individual effort, but the Red Stars continue to struggle to control and progress the ball.
Louisville struck first in the 12th minute when new signing Bethany Balcer crossed a pass to an unmarked Uchenna Kanu. The duo terrorized the unorganized Chicago defense, making multiple efforts of the same goal-scoring play on keeper Alyssa Naeher.
New signing Julia Grosso joined played the full 90 minutes in her debut match. She impressed with her composure, completing over 90% of her passes.
Despite the new signing, Chicago’s midfield struggles unfortunately continue, complicated by a defending corps battered with injuries. With Sam Staab out for the season, and Maxi Rall on the 45-day injured list, the Red Stars had to experiment with a new backline.
Rookie Hannah Anderson paired with Natalia Kuikka at center back. Anderson has been a strong defender for the Red Stars when she’s gotten her reps. She’s got the classic Chicago grit, and puts herself in the best position to disrupt passes and shots in the defending third.
Leilanni Nesbeth was moved to a right back position. She’s excelled this season as a ball-gobbling midfielder, but she had trouble keeping track of Uchenna Kanu’s runs into the box.
“I’m not gonna put too much on one game… I think it shows we needed a game just to get everyone back together,” said head coach Lorne Donaldson after the match.
Saturday’s match was the first game for the Red Stars since their Summer Cup group stage win against the Washington Spirit on July 31st.
The new back line is still a work in progress. Louisville players went unmarked, and passes usually cleared sliced through the box instead. They played like they were missing their strongest defender. Sam Staab is usually the conductor, keeping the line on tempo with their coverage. Her ability to move the ball down field also makes her an important piece in Chicago’s transitional attack.
“We weren’t as solid as we normally would be,” said Donaldson. “We’re missing Sam Staab, but I think we have players that will just have to carry us through. I trust in them. We just have to figure it out.”
The Red Stars face their next test on Sunday against Angel City FC who is also fighting for a place in the playoffs. After a slow start to the season, ACFC has come into form after a positive stretch of matches during the Olympics break.
Kickoff on Sunday starts at 3PM Central time.