NFL
By: Zachary Draves
After a revitalized season filled with tremendous promise under Head Coach Chris Petrucelli in his first season, the Chicago Red Stars fought tooth and nail to solidify their place among the most consistent teams in the NWSL. Consistent being that they have been a familiar presence in playoff play for the last six straight years.. Now with the 2022 postseason around the corner, the Red Stars are vying for a spot as they took on newly formed Angel City FC in their last game of the regular season before a record home crowd of 8,347.
In order to secure the 6th and final playoff position, Chicago needed to win and/or have the North Carolina Courage or Houston Dash lose. They came into this game in 7th place and Angel City sat in 8th. Chicago’s playoff chances increased due to the Courage finishing in a draw against San Diego on Saturday.
Chicago comprises some of the most talented players in the NWSL that works to their advantage. Among them includes lightning striking forward Mallory Pugh, who is currently in the run for league MVP. She came in with 10 goals and with a league leading 6 assists. She has also consistently demonstrated that when she is on top of her game, she contributes immensely in every aspect of the game securing 80% of her tackles and maintaining a 77% accuracy rate for passing.
Her plus Yuki Nagasato, and Ava Cook on the wing creates high energy on the offense. However, their defense was absent Bianca St-Georges and Zoe Morse because they were prohibited from playing due to receiving red cards in their game against the Portland Thorns last week. So others were in a position to step up.
The key for them was to keep possession of the ball as much as they can, be quick in transition, and take advantage of all available chances. To sum it up, the stakes were extremely high and Chicago had to play the best soccer they have played all year.
From the start, the Red Stars were fairly tedious as they were trying to get a feel for the game. Angel City FC mostly held onto the ball through the first five minutes but then the Red Stars started to regain possession and had a couple shots on goal. As the first half started to materialize, it was becoming clear that Chicago was doing everything they had set out to do; they just needed to get on the board.
They were also very strategic in that there were numerous occasions where instead of pushing the ball upfield and potentially risking a turnover they would kick it to goaltender Alyssa Naeher so that she could set up the play. At the 28:39 minute mark, it looked like Angel City FC was on the verge of scoring with a head ball right at the goal but Naeher was there to stop it in emphatic fashion.
In the last ten minutes of the first half, both teams were playing a sellar game. Their offenses took advantage of every chance they could get to score and their defenses were top notch as they each took turns denying each side what had the potential to be goals.
During the additional minutes given after the 45 minute mark of the first half, the Red Stars broke through when it was none other than Pugh who did what she does best and scored off a dramatic running assist by forward Sarah Luebbert to put them up 1-0.
On the stroke of halftime, Mallory Pugh puts @chicagoredstars ahead!!!#CHIvLA | 1 – 0 pic.twitter.com/LQUThBwSc9
— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) October 2, 2022
As the second half took off, all Chicago needed to do was continue to play their game, not relent, and they could punch their ticket to the playoffs. The frenzied intensity of the match was palpable and only grew at the 56:47 minute mark when Angel City’s Savannah McCaskill was granted a penalty shot, but ended up kicking to the right and hitting the goal post out of bounds in what was destined to be the tying goal. A moment in which the Chicago faithful at SeatGeek Stadium exploded into a thunderous roar.
The aggressive style of the Red Stars defense was evident throughout the game as they attacked the ball at every turn for the most part and clipped the heels of a few Angel City players here and there. However at the 64th minute, it got the better of them when midfielder Danielle Colaprico was issued a yellow card.
But at the 68th minute, a yellow card was given to Angel City defender Morgan Reid. It seemed as if the game was starting to reach a feverish point where the defenses up the ante and yellow cards would possibly be handed out left and right. Sure enough, another one was handed down to Angel City in the 75th minute and this time it was to midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan. The Red Stars took advantage of that in a big way when Yuki Nagasato scored on a remarkable running goal at the 76th minute to increase the Chicago lead to a comfortable 2-0.
Okayyyy @Yuki_Ogimi what a strike!!
@chicagoredstars | #MKOT pic.twitter.com/1u7vjcWiBv
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 2, 2022
During the final ten minutes, a Chicago victory was all but certain. A cool and crisp breeze permeated against the backdrop of a beautifully clear Windy City evening. But that didn’t alleviate the red hot fire the Red Stars brought to the pitch.
They played their game their way with remarkable execution and with a solid 2-0 victory earned a spot in the NWSL Playoffs for a league record seventh consecutive year.
(Courtesy: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports)
During post-game, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher spoke of what it meant to get back to postseason and before a very raucous record setting crowd.
“For the crowd to come out was a huge energy boost for us” she said. “I think that’s huge. All season long we have been getting through a couple thousand so to have 8,000 for the last game we felt the energy.”
She would also go on to give credit to the younger players for coming in and contributing as well as the team as a whole for giving it all they got.
“This has been a long year. We have had a lot of young players have to step up into different roles that may not have been expected coming into this season. We are now starting to get the veterans to come back in and get some more minutes under their belt. I’m just proud of the way the group has gone about the year. We have truly gone one game at a time and I think that’s what helped us coming into this week.”
The #6 Red Stars (9-6-7, 30 points) will take on the #3 San Diego Wave FC (10-6-6, 33 points) on October 16 in the NWSL Quarterfinal at 10:00pm EST.
