Gotham cruise 2-0 on early goals
By Lesley Ryder
Gotham FC scored two goals in the opening ten minutes to sink the Stars in a midweek tilt. Rookie Jordynn Dudley menaced the Stars from the first minute of the match. The FSU grad made a back post run, and connected on a cross by Jaedyn Shaw to take the early lead. Dudley’s strike was the second-fastest goal by rookie in NWSL history
Nine minutes later, Rose Lavelle doubled the lead from the same spot, finishing on a cross by new signee, Guro Reiten. Moments later, Esther Gonzalez nearly added a third but her shot rocked off the crossbar.
At halftime, Chicago brought in Michelle Alozie to replace rookie Tessa Dellarose at left back. Dellarose struggled to hold her ground against the relentless Gotham attack. “Sometimes you just start the game a little bit so-so, and you kind of get stuck into it. So I felt, for you know, also for her own sake, that I think it was good to make the substitution at halftime and get Michelle into the game.” Chicago head coach Martin Sjogren said after the match.
Unfazed by the change, Gotham nearly opened the second half with another quick goal on the back post. Jordynn Dudley chipped a cross beyond the reach of Chicago’s Kathy Hendrich to Esther Gonzalez’s feet. Esther’s shot trickled just wide of a diving Alyssa Naeher.
Still, the Stars showed signs of life in the second half. In the 54th minute, Aaliyah Farmer played a long pass to Ryan Gareis down the left side. Gareis slipped a pass to Nadia Gomes, who sent a shot just wide for Chicago’s best chance on the night. Farmer had nothing but faith in Gareis run. “I know Ryan's always gonna go for the ball, and I know I could always find her out there, so it's a good through ball. And yeah, I mean, an unlucky [result]”
Farmer made her second straight start for the Stars, and has impressed Martin Sjogren in both her appearances. Her defensive efforts stood out against Boston, but last night he believed she performed well on both sides of the ball with her through passes.
After allowing two quick goals in the first half, the Stars were able to keep Gotham scoreless in the final 45 minutes. “It's tough to be down to nothing going into the half. But we we knew that we had to be able to get back into it, kind of try to get one goal at a time,” Chicago captain Alyssa Naeher said after the match. “Unfortunately, we weren't able to get back into it tonight. But I think you did see a bit of an energy shift in there. We were couple inches away from pulling one back. And, you know, that's this game. It's a game of inches on both sides of it.”
The Stars finished the night with just one shot on target—an Ivonne Chacon chance in the 85th minute. The midfield build-up continued to haunt the Stars, as they struggled to keep possession. They connected just three passes into Gotham’s box all game. “I think we, at times, today, showed more of what we need to do. But just like, like some of the previous games. It's too few times,” Sjogren explained, but he felt last night’s uphill climb on the scoreboard made things harder for the side. “It doesn’t kill us, I think that’s harsh to say, but they hurt us pretty bad.”
But the road ahead for the Stars won’t get any easier. On Sunday, the Stars will finish their latest three game sprint against the league-leading Portland Thorns. The Thorns climbed to the top of the table after beating San Diego Wave at home 2-0 on Wednesday night.
For Aaliyah Farmer, the mentality going forward won’t change. “Just keeping our heads down, and keep going.” “[This game] affects us, but I think we can't let it affect us too much… just keep the energy high and keep going.”
[Photo: Gretchen Schneider/Chicago Stars FC]