By Lesley Ryder
The Stars worked hard over the summer break, and in their first stress test, they passed. Not quite with flying colors, but enough to quiet the alarm bells blaring for the first half of the season. On Friday, they earned a point against Gotham FC in a comeback effort.
It’s a tie. it’s not a miracle, but its a lot more hopeful than where they were a month ago.
Interim head coach Ella Masar is the third person to helm the club this season. she spent the last month hammering the the basics to tighten up the team’s defense, and put pressure on their opponents. For the better part of the first half, it worked. They bested Gotham in duels won, and interceptions. Their pass completion, a long-held struggle point, was 77%—higher than their season average 73%
The stars hit a speed bump in the MINUTE when Gotham’s Sarah Schupansky and Kyah Harper connected to score. Gotham nearly doubled their lead on a tremendous strike by Rose Lavelle, but the goal was ruled offside by VAR.
In the second half, the Stars equalized, and held the line to finish out the match with a draw. They continued to pressure Gotham in their own end, and prevented them from gaining ground for much of the half. They controlled possession for 64% of the half, and outshot Gotham 11-3. It was a far cry from the first half of the season, where they led the league with 10 goals conceded in the final 15 minutes of the second half.
After one match it’s far too soon to call it a reversal of their first half trend, but it’s not nothing.
For the players, this result was the culmination of the difficult work done over the league’s summer break. “It's been a really awesome month, I think a hard month too. I think Ella’s pushed us a lot, and I think she's pushed us, though, in a in a way to in a direction of belief,” said Schlegel. “I think that was like an intentional tactical change with Ella. I think she has been pushing us over the last month to be a high press team, being on our front for front foot, playing forward, all those sorts of things. So I do think, yes, that's been, you know, partially like with this ‘rest and reset’, but also I think that was a tactical mental shift that Ella has implemented, and I think that showed tonight on the field that the team really took to that.”
“I was joking with somebody before I came in as either you go incredibly well or shit, we're gonna get smoked,” said Masar after the match. “Because when you try to instill new habits, and you finally get the pressure, you're gonna go back to old habits. And what I'm most proud about these players is that in five weeks, even with the losses we had, they trusted this moment.”
Ally Schlegel returned to the scoresheet after scoring her first goal of the season just before the summer break. The third-year forward has tried to keep a level perspective as she worked through her drought. “[Scoring] goals it's like this, this art to it, where you can't always put your finger on it, and if you think too much about it, then it doesn't come. And if you don't think about it, you know, then it feels like you're not being intentional,” Schlegel explained “I think this year, one of my personal like mantras is ‘just gonna keep going’, you know? What else is a girl to do besides keep going and if it comes, it comes.”
Masar recalled some of the conversations she’d had with Schlegel over the break, and how they’d worked together through this difficult period. “Since the beginning of season, I give her a word every game, and this word today was just joy. Find your joy. And you know she she found her joy. She deserves it.”
Though the Stars only took one point from the match, it felt more like a point earned than two points lost. “I feel like we should have won the game. I think we had a lot more chances and we were playing better, but I think it's just baby steps, and I think that this tie is huge for us,” said Julia Grosso, who earned an assist on Schlegel’s goal “and I think we're just going to continue to build and build on it. I'm just really happy for the team, and I think it's a positive note. But am I disappointed we should have won? Yeah, we should have, but I'm still proud of the team.”
The challenge now for the Stars is to be consistent in their efforts. They’ll have a chance this weekend against Bay FC, the lone team they’ve beaten this season. Former Chicago Star Penelope Hocking will return to SeatGeek stadium for the first time since her surprise trade last season.