By Lesley Ryder
Four games into the 2025 season, the Chicago Stars have their first win.
Ludmila scored a first half brace, and Jameese Joseph bagged two assists as the Stars held on to a 2-1 victory against Bay FC.
Chicago controlled the build-up play to get on the board early in the 5th minute. Bea Franklin moved the ball out wide to Cameron Biegalski, who found Joseph moving through space down the right hand side. Joseph sent a clever pass downfield to a streaking Ludmila, who beat the keeper with some fancy footwork. Ludmila celebrated her feat with a backflip, as the referee called the play offside. VAR overturned the call, and the goal stood.
Ludmila tacked on another goal in the 41st minute. Joseph sent another ball downfield to the Brazilian who dribbled through space and past Bay FC defender Abby Dahlkemper for an open shot on net past Jordan Silkowitz.
The Stars nearly notched a third goal early in the second half. Ludmila sent a pass to Ally Schlegel who aimed a shot to the top corner with her left foot, but a brilliant stretch save from Silkowitz kept the ball out of the net.
Bay FC swung the momentum their way after being awarded a penalty for a handball in the 57th minute. Caroline Conti scored her first goal of the season from the spot, and Bay FC intensified their attack. Chicago outlasted Bay’s attempts, including 3 shots in the final 15 minutes to hold on to the lead and secure their first win.
Ludmila was glad to get on the board “I needed to score goals, to build confidence, and build that confidence from my teammates, but just overall happy for the result,” she said through an interpreter after the match.
Jameese Joseph spoke about the work done to build her connection with Ludmila. “I trust in Luch [Ludmila] a lot. She's very, very speedy and I just trust her to get to win the ball and to also attack the defense and put pressure on the defense. So my money is on Luch every time.”
Head coach Lorne Donaldson had made note last match about the team’s need to lean on that trust. “We know we we needed to come out and do something. We have lost a couple tough games that we could have done better in, and it was a matter of trust. I think everybody you know, from the training this week you can just see that everybody started to have a new belief,” he added, not getting too ahead of the result “but this is just one game, so we got to continue that trust all the way through.”
Notes!
- All three matches between Chicago and Bay FC have ended in a 2-1 result.
- It was the Stars first win and multi-goal game since October 4, 2024 against the Houston Dash.
- Maitane made her first start for the Stars, taking a defensive midfield role.
- Cari Roccaro returned to center back for the first time this season. She made several appearances down the stretch last season.
- Leilanni Nesbeth made her first appearance of the season, subbing on in the 76th minute.
- Sam Staab extended her time on the field to 75 minutes as she builds back her fitness in her return from her achilles injury.