Red Stars drop it late to Gotham FC

Chicago Red Stars 0-2 Gotham FC

BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Should the Chicago Red Stars make the playoffs (which is more likely to happen than not at this point), perhaps it would be a good thing that they would likely start on the road where they’re 6-4-2. The Red Stars slumped to their eighth league home defeat as they fell to defending champion Gotham FC, 2-0, at SeatGeek Stadium.

The Red Stars miss out on a chance to clinch a playoff spot, but could still do so on Sunday should Racing Louisville lose to Washington Spirit.

The match was dominated by Gotham in terms of possession (60-40) and shots (12-2). However, the finishing was not there for a while. The Red Stars had just two shots in the match, one of which came on a counter attack in the second half in the 60th minutes where Mallory Swanson’s shot hit the goal post. Swanson was making her 100th appearance in the NWSL.

That was the closest the Red Stars got to scoring. The match appeared heading for a 0-0 draw until the 85th minute when VAR spotted a foul in the penalty area by Cari Roccaro on Ella Stevens. Referee pointed to the spot and Lynn Williams converted the penalty kick to put Gotham ahead. Gotham added a second after a defensive breakdown on a counter attack as Williams was able to find Esther to secure the three points for Gotham.

“I thought we battled hard for those 86 minutes and unfortunate to have a penalty called it at that point,” said Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher. “That obviously changed the game, and once you get that momentum and then nine additional minutes after that obviously they closed the game out at the end. I thought the team battled well throughout the game and we talked about this being a playoff game for us and and having that mentality and we’ll have to keep building on that going forward for these last two games and go back and learn from some areas where we can improve on to close out some of these games and make sure we get ourselves into the playoffs.”

The Red Stars are now 4-8-0 in league play at home and it’s a mystery to Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson as to why his team cannot replicate their away form at home where they are 6-4-2.

[I don’t know.] If I had a magic wand, I would do it,” said Donaldson. “I mean, I I don’t know what’s going on at all. For some reason, it’s just one of those seasons where we can’t put it together at home.”

The Red Stars will travel to Washington to take on the Spirit next Sunday. Kickoff is at 4pm CT on Marquee. By that time, the Red Stars could clinch a spot in playoffs, but if not, a win at Audi Field will do the trick.

For more of Leslie Smith’s photos, please click on the link to her gallery.

SCORING SUMMARY:
GFC-Lynn Williams (penalty kick) 87
GFC-Esther (Williams) 90+8

BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Shea Groom (caution, persistent infringement) 30
GFC-Sam Hiatt (caution, reckless foul) 61
GFC-Emily Sonnett (caution, tactical foul) 81
GFC-Juan Carlos Amoros (sent off, foul and abusive language) 87

CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #32-Talyor Malham, #41-Hannah Anderson, #4-Cari Roccaro, #23-Tatumn Milazzo (#33-Ally Cook 90+6); #21-Julia Grosso, #20-Bea Franklin; #9-Mallory Swanson, #34-Ally Schlegel (#24-Jenna Bike 77), #14-Ludmilla; #10-Shea Groom (#8-Jameese Joseph 89)

Subs not used: #19-Mackenzie Wood, #30-Camryn Biegalski, #5-Julia Bianchi, #11-Chardonnay Curran, #8-Jameese Joseph, #13-Leilanni Nesbeth, #22-Rosella

GOTHAM FC (4-1-4-1): #30-Ann Berger; #2-Jenna Nighswonger (#22-Mandy Freeman 74), #15-Tierna Davidson (#21-Sam Hiatt 46), #6-Emily Sonnett, #27-Jess Carter (#24-Cece Kizer 83); #14-Nealy Martin; #10-Lynn Williams, #17-Delanie Sheehan (#20-Jessica Silva 74), #16-Rose Lavelle, #18-Yazmeen Ryan (#13-Ella Stevens 62); #9-Esther

Subs not used: #38-Cassie Miller, #3-Bruna Bruninha, #77-Maitane Lopez, #7-McCall Zerboni

TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 2-12 GFC
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 1-5 GFC
FOULS: CHI 10-7 GFC
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-3 GFC
CORNER KICKS: CHI 2-5 GFC
SAVES: CHI 3-1 GFC

Referee: Greg Dopka
Assistant Referees: Austin Holt, Melissa Beck
Fourth Official: Melinda Homa
VAR: Alyssa Nichols
AVAR: Rhett Hammil
Attendance: 6,997
Weather: Partly Sunny and 70º
Woman of the Match: Lynn Williams (GFC)