Preseason media notebook
By Lesley Ryder
The Chicago Stars 2026 preseason is underway. The team’s new head coach, Martin Sjogren has taken the helm as the team puts their 2025 last-place finish behind them. With the Stars arriving in Spain for warmer weather training, grab a plate and take what you like from the preseason buffet!
Unfortunate beginnings
The first day of the 2026 Chicago Stars season kicked off with an ominous start.
Defender Natalia Kuikka suffered a non-contact injury in the first full-team drill of the season. She was helped off the field to be evaluated by the Stars medical staff. Injuries limited Kuikka to just seven appearances last season. A knee injury on international duty kept her out for much of the first half of the season, and a leg injury in the Stars comeback win against Seattle Reign took her down for the remainder of the season. Kuikka’s presence was sorely missed on the backline, as the Stars surrendered a club record 54 goals against.
On Friday, the Stars announced that Natalia Kuikka suffered an ACL tear, and will miss the 2026 season. For the second season in a row the Stars will have to figure out how to carry on without Kuikka’s veteran experience.
The Stars align
General Manager Richard Feuz is confident that the team is finally aligned to put their best foot forward in 2026. In his eyes, the tumult of the 2025 Stars season allowed the club to align in the way they were meant to be. Now the team’s objective is to raise their standards.
The club fired head coach Lorne Donaldson after six games, and began a revolving door of interim gaffers. In all, four different coaches led the team through the 2025 season.
“We knew that all those changes could look like instability at some point, And I think at some point we really wanted to take the time to look for alignment, because I truly believe that top down alignment in an organization is the only way to get to success. It is the only way to get clarity for players, for staff, for ownership, for everyone.”
It’s a pivotal year for Feuz, who’s entering the final third of his 1000-day rebuild.
In a welcome change from last offseason’s conservative approach, the Stars hit the market to build up their squad. They brought in experienced veterans Brianna Pinto, Ryan Gareis, Michelle Alozie and Katie Atkinson (nee Lund). They recruited Elise Evans, Tessa Dellarose, and Emma Egizii from top NCAA programs. According to Feuz, we may still see more additions before the season’s first kick. “We have more additions to [the team]. We're up and running, working every day with with Martin… but we have two more months to work on it.”
Feuz also lauded the additions to the coaching staff. Former ACFC and Gotham FC Goalkeeper coach Daniel Ball came to the Stars. The team will soon be joined by former Sporting Lisbon head coach and Utah Royals assistant Mariana Cabral. But chief among the new additions is head coach Martin Sjogren, who signed last summer, but officially took the helm at the conclusion of the Damallsvenskan season.
The Stars’ new skipper expressed his excitement to get to work. “We have quite a job ahead of us, but I also see a lot of talent in this team” said Sjogren in his first media availability. “We will do everything we can to raise the standard and [have] a better season this year.”
Part of raising that standard is finishing in the top 8 of the table. “If there is something that no one in this organization enjoyed is watching football in November from home,” said Fuez. “So I think at the end of the day, if we're waking up and starting this new preseason, working that hard during the off season, it’s because we want to be part of it. I think that's the clear answer. We want to be part of it in November. We want to be meaningful late this season.”
Challenges lie ahead for this rebuilt squad. With two new expansion teams, a long season grows that much longer. In 2026, teams will have to play midweek games on short notice. For the Stars, their season kicks off with a rush of GAMES in a WEEK period. The team struggled with their depth last season, but the additional veteran talent coming in the offseason should help.
The influx of young talent will have to be developed. Last season, the Stars younger players were mostly relegated to the sideline. Micayla Johnson got more time playing with the US U-17 team than she did for the Stars. She even became the first American to score in back to back U-17 World cups. Given her performance, it’s difficult to understand why Johnson was relegated to garbage time minutes in her rookie season. With all the coaching changes, Manaka Hayashi bounced between time on the field, and time on the bench. If the Stars want the best out of their new college graduates, they’ll have to put forth a better pathway than what they could provide last year.
A new page for Stars players
In preseason media availabilities so far, returning Stars players are eager to put the struggles of the 2025 season behind them. Defender Sam Staab is excited to put in the work with all her new teammates.
“I think we're going to learn a lot and really grow and develop into ourselves in the first couple of months… So I wouldn't be surprised if we start off well, and then you see a new, different side of us as we find our way.” Staab told reporters at Chicago Stars media day.
Staab’s putting down roots in Chicagoland. She signed an extension with the club last fall, and even bought a house in the offseason. She credits her decision to feeling hope in the club’s direction.
“You can see it on the outside, but it's a whole ‘nother thing to just feel it internally as well,” said Staab “And I have felt it even though last year was like a bit of chaos and everything, like there's beauty in chaos as well, and there's a lot of hope there, and a lot of forward progress to be had.”
The team’s positive direction also factored in to Alyssa Naeher’s re-signing with the club.
“[Last season] felt like we were right on the precipice of having that breakthrough as a group, and there was so much time and energy that was put into in some days, it was almost like the last few weeks of the season was a mini preseason for this year.” Naeher explained in the team’s first preseason presser.
The Chicago captain believes the offseason transition from interim head coach Anders Jacobson to his longtime colleague Martin Sjogren has been seamless. After last season’s many changes, the stability is welcomed. “I don't look at this as another coaching change necessarily, as much as adjusting to a new voice, but I think that it's very much the same building off of last year.”
Newcomer Elise Evans trained with the club over the summer, and enjoyed learning from the Chicago players.
“It’s incredible, especially being a young player, having some great leaders and veterans on the team that want to help me as much as possible” Evans has reunited with her fellow USYNT U-20 teammate, Tessa Dellarose. “Tessa has been one of my best friends since high school, so having one of your good friends in the same position as you will definitely help that transition. It’s been fun to get to be on the same team.”
Evans is welcoming the challenge of adjusting to the professional level. “It's also been very exciting, because I feel like every practice, I'm learning so much and growing so much. It's some of the top competition.”
For veteran forward Ryan Gareis, joining the Stars is a full-circle moment. The Naperville native attended Red Stars games with her youth club. “And any post game when the girls would come around and sign our little notebooks, it was like, you're meeting your heroes.” Gareis said in her first availability. “I was part of the community that wanted this club to do great, and it's cool that that community is still there and it's only growing now. So to kind of be in the different role of that is, I don't know, it's so rewarding and so exciting for me.”
The Stars made a crucial signing in veteran midfielder Brianna Pinto. The former Tar Heel was eager to join the club, and have the opportunity to play under a European coach’s tutelage. “I'll get to see the game in a new way,” Pinto told reporters on the first day of preseason. “I think everybody's hungry. Hungry to make this team into something special. And I know that we have all the pieces to do that. So I'm really looking forward to the year.”
After last season’s fall to last place on the table, it’s heartening to see the Stars take action in the offseason. If the on-field product can match the team’s off-field ambitions, Chicago could be the team to beat. It’s up to new head coach Martin Sjogren and his staff to deliver.
The Stars will play three friendly matches in Spain, and open the 2026 season in Los Angeles on March 15 against Angel City FC.