Stars complete second comeback of the week
By Lesley Ryder
Surely the Stars couldn’t do it again. Once again, they found themselves down by two goals in the last 15 minutes of the match. Once again, Ludmila scored a banger to spark the comeback. MINUTES later, she scored a second goal. When Jaedyn Shaw quieted the SeatGeek Stadium crowd with a go-ahead goal, Ludmila responded with her third. The Brazilian forward scored the fastest hat trick in NWSL history to extend Chicago’s unbeaten streak out of the midseason break.
After a hard-fought, scoreless first half, it was North Carolina on the front foot in the second half. Manaka Matsukubo broke free from Taylor Malham, and chipped the ball past Alyssa Naeher to open the scoring in the 49th minute.
Then, in the 62nd minute a failed clearance by Camryn Biegalski fell kindly to Tyler Lussi, who sent a lofted ball that bounced off the crossbar and in to make it 2-0. For the second time in five days, it seemed like all was lost for the Chicago Stars.
Sam Staab sent a long pass downfield to Ludmila, who took on four North Carolina defenders before unloading on a top-bins shot on Murphy. Five minutes later, the Stars ran it back: Sam Staab’s pass found Ludmila at midfield, and Ludmila outran four defenders to bury another shot past Casey Murphy.
North Carolina’s Jaedyn Shaw nearly spoiled the comeback party for the Stars. Just moment’s after Ludmila scored her second goal, Meredith Speck sent a cross on a dime to Shaw, who poked the ball past an outstretched Naeher.
The would-be winning goal was short-lived. In the 86th minute, the Stars earned a corner kick. Manaka Hayashi swung the ball to the back post, and Ludmila headed the ball to earn her first NWSL hat trick. After failing to mount a multi-goal comeback all season, the Stars notched two in a single week.
“It felt pretty good. I thought we didn’t have much time so I just had to get ready for the next one and the next one.” Ludmila said of her speedy hat trick.
Friday’s result brought the team to a four-game unbeaten streak—a mark the team hasn’t hit since the end of the 2023 season. “We all believe in in each other, and there's moments that get really tough, and we just look at each other and it's like, we can do it. We just need to believe and keep going.”
Late in the match, interim head coach Ella Masar picked up her third yellow card of the season. She’ll be suspended from next weekend’s match in DC. The timing of her suspension may be serendipitous for the Stars. Future assistant coach, and interim head coach-in-waiting Anders Jacobson is expected to join the team this week.
Notes from the field
- Ludmila’s hat trick is the first for the Stars since Sam Kerr’s in 2019.
- Manaka Hayashi recorded her first assist on Ludmila’s third goal, and Sam Staab earned her first multi-assist game on the other two goals.