By Lesley Ryder
Chicago stars lost their third match in a row to Racing Louisville on a rain-soaked Sunday evening.
Severe thunderstorms in the area delayed the match start by two hours, but the delay did not seem to faze the Stars.
For the first 20 minutes of the match, Chicago seemed to be in the driver’s seat. Julia Grosso worked down the left side of the field, finding moments of life in the final third. The Stars put three chances on goal in the first ten minutes alone.
Louisville needed time to grow into the game. They started the match a bit hesitant, as if they were waiting for Chicago to make the first move. As the half progressed, they began challenging the Stars with great success. Taylor Flint intercepted a poor clearance pass by Hannah Anderson intended for Julia Grosso. The touch from Flint came to Emma Sears, who placed her shot perfectly in the top corner over Alyssa Naeher’s outstretched arms for the lead.
The Louisville goal deflated the Stars. Their composure from the start of the match was dissolved by halftime. “If a team’s gonna score, we have to be able to stick to our game plan.” Head coach Lorne Donaldson said after the match.
Halftime did not supply the energy jolt the Stars needed. They team failed to put a single shot on goal for the remainder of the game, while Louisville continued to work to create chances. The Stars continued to shrink away, with players working in tunnel vision. Ludmila created lanes for herself out wide on the right hand side, but the Stars players were seemingly blind to her.
Donaldson parsed through the post mortem in the post-match press conference “I think it’s a trust issue. We need to trust each other.” Donaldson said “The way we’re set up, we have to get balls behind their defense. So we’ve gotta get better trust in it.”
“I think when we all go for it, we’ll be unstoppable.” Julia Grosso said “We have fast players, we have to continue to utilize that.”
This past Monday marked the trade deadline in the NWSL. When asked if he had been in conversation with GM Rick Feuz, to bring in additional players, Donaldson said "We want to get the best players that we can get, you know. But the sporting side, they have to be the one to make the final decision on that kind of stuff."
According to LinkedIn, Richard Feuz was in Bilbao on Wednesday, speaking at a conference. It was his fourth such appearance in-season since he came to the Stars last winter.
The season is young, but the Stars have done very little in these first few games to provide a glimmer of hope. The Stars will have time to address these issues over the international break, but it is worth questioning whether they are properly equipped to compete in this fast-growing league.
Some good news:
- Sam Staab finished her shift after 63 minutes, the longest she’s played this season.
- Bea Franklin made a goal-line save in the 67’ to keep the game within reach for the Stars.