The Red Stars beat Portland 1-0 at Providence Park to end a three-game losing streak and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Ally Schlegel intercepted a pass from Portland’s Olivia Moultrie to open the scoring in the 16th minute. The Red Stars had a chance to extend their lead when Ludmila drew a foul in the penalty area, but Mal Swanson couldn’t put it past Mackenzie Arnold.
The Red Stars lockdown defense returned to form to outlast the Thorns’ attack through the second half and 13 added minutes of stoppage time.
Cari Roccaro had a standout performance at centerback. Roccaro has played most games this season in a defensive midfielder role, but really seemed at home on the backline. She led the Chicago defenders with 3 blocked shots.
Schlegel returned to the Starting XI after dealing with a lingering illness. Her energetic attacking play was key to the Red Stars victory. capitalized on a mistake lorne quote: she’s very intelligent.
Starting lineup aside, This was a different Red Stars team than we’d seen over the losing streak.
“We were very calm and collected, and worked together as a unit,” said Julia Grosso after the match. “We do have a plan, but I think we’re just kinda playing what the game gives us.”
“On the field you’re reading different things, making different adjustments, and I think we communicated with each other really well tonight,” added Schlegel.
This has been a young team getting to know each other over the course of the season. A changing team roster after an extended FIFA break added a wrinkle. It’s a lot of moving pieces but they’re finding their way together.
The Red Stars have struggled to move the ball forward and attack, but they’ve made their own goal-scoring opportunities by capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes. With players like Ludmila joining ball-hungry players like Jameese Joseph and Ally Schlegel, adding a high press to their tool bag could be the spark they need to generate more chances for themselves.
“Adding Ludmila, we knew we had a front three who could go at people. So we said ‘let’s go at them and see what happens,” said Lorne Donaldson after the match.
Injuries to Jameese Joseph and Mal Swanson derailed the Chicago game plan. “The last 20 minutes we just had to be more defensive.”
Jameese Joseph’s injury came at the end of the first half. Coach Donaldson noted it was more of a precautionary substitution. Swanson’s injury was immediately apparent after falling awkwardly on a challenge from Kelli Hubly. The Red Stars have yet to confirm the extent of Swanson’s injury.
Up next for the Red Stars is the struggling San Diego Wave FC side at home. Wave secured their first league win in four months
The playoff picture
The win against Portland allows the Red Stars to keep pace with the upstart Bay FC and Louisville sides in the playoff race. Every point matters now as the last three games for the Red Stars go through three of the top four teams in the league.
And one more thing
- The extent of Mal Swanson’s injury is not yet known, but some instagram slutheing leaves us hopeful. She posted a few photos to her stories and did not appear to be wearing a sling. We are still awaiting official word from the Red Stars
- Of the Red Stars 8 wins this season, 5 have come on the road. They have 2 more road games left this season.