Stars rally for another draw

Chicago Stars FC 2-2 Utah Royals

BRIDGEVIEW, IL–The Chicago Stars for a number of games this season have put together some late match rallies. There’s been some excitement behind several of them, but there have been a number of draws, too.

On Sunday, the Stars came back again with a couple of late goals to pull out another 2-2 draw against visiting Utah Royals at SeatGeek Stadium.

Both late goals were within the final ten plus minutes with players off the bench scoring their first career goals being Ivonne Chacon and Micayla Johnson.

“To get players in was really important for us,” Chicago Stars Interim coach Anders Jacobson said. “Every player that came on did their work and actually made a difference. There was a big plan for Mikayla Johnson, she’s a young player and has had really good trainings every day. I thought once we got to 65 or 70 with the heat. With the way Utah plays, they’re a very intense team. I figured it would be a good move to switch the players. I really didn’t know that Mikayla (Johnson) would do the things she did today. It was good to get fresh legs out there and that was a big help and gave us energy.”

Johnson also will be taking part with the U17 Women’s National Team which seems deserving with her performance on Sunday.

Chicago rallied with a goal from Chacon on a loose ball near the back post and she netted the shot that made the score 2-1 in the 82nd minute.

Johnson added the second goal near the top of the box after taking a pass from Julia Grosso. She hit a low shot into the corner in the 86th minute that made the match even at 2-2.

“I just think in the second half we have to raise a level,” Johnson said, “Our team, we just went out there and did what we could.”

Johnson joined many from the list of subs that came into the match in the final stages, but she made a big impact by scoring the tying goal.

“I was just coming out to impact the game in many ways that I can,” Johnson said. “I did what I can out there. Whether it was defense, offense, and getting a chance to attack in the game.”

Utah’s Mina Tanaka scored the first goal of the match with a shot from about 25 yards out outside the box into the low left corner for a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute.

Stars fouled a Utah Royals player in the penalty area a few minutes later. Tanaka stepped up and scored her second goal with a penalty into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage in the 65th minute.

Chicago with the draw now has a record of (2-11-10 for 17 points), while Utah’s mark is (5-11-7, 22 points)

The Stars will next play at Racing Louisville on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. The Royals next host the San Diego Wave Saturday night at 9 p.m. MDT.

Photos by Len Cederholm

SCORING SUMMARY
UTAH-Tanaka (unassisted) 58′
UTAH-Tanaka (pk) 65′
CHI-Chacon (unassisted) 82′
CHI-Johnson (Grosso) 86′

BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Schlegel (yellow, unsporting behavior) 32′
CHI-Bench-Jacobsen (yellow, dissent) 52′
CHI-Biegalski (yellow, unsporting behavior) 59′
UTAH-St. Georges (yellow, unsporting behavior) 69′
UTAH-Pransnikar (yellow, unsporting behavior) 71′

CHICAGO STARS: #1-Naeher, #30-Biegalski, #3Staab, #6-Hendrich, #32-Malham, #77-Lopez (#16-Hayashi 77), #20-Franklin (#23-Johnson 78), #21-Grosso (#13-Nesbeth 90), #26-Gomes 9 (#8-Joseph 66), #34-Schlegel, #14-Ludmila (#18-Chacon 78)

Subs not used: #19-Wood, #41-Anderson, #2-Angel, #11-Boade,

UTAH ROYALS: #1-McGlynn, #8-Del Fava, #18-Riehl (#28-Dorsey 8), #14-Rabano, #7-Thomsen, #10-Zornoza, #17-Tejada, #24-Lacasse (#25-Kizer 77), #4-Monaghan (#9-Pransnikar 63), #30-Solarzano (#53-St. Georges 63), #11-Tanaka.

Subs not used: #77-Jackson, #13-Nagair, #22-Foederer, #13-Mozingo, #16-Pogarch.

TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 15-16 UTAH
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-3 UTAH
FOULS: CHI 9-15 UTAH
OFFSIDES: CHI 3-3 UTAH
CORNER KICKS: CHI 4-7 UTAH
SAVES: CHI 1-1 UTAH

Referee: Jaclyn Matz
Assistant Referees: Rachel Smith and Ethan Biege
Fourth Official: Ryan Homik
VAR: Brad Jensen
Assistant VAR: Brian Marshall
Weather: Mostly Sunny and 85
Attendance: 3,710

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