Stars net second win

EVANSTON, IL–For only the second time this season, the Chicago Stars had picked up a victory. Chicago pulled out a 2-0 victory over visiting Boston Legacy at Martin Field. Jordyn Huitema and Nadia Gomes each scored goals for the Stars, while Chicago’s keeper Katie Atkinson made her efforts a good one with eight saves and a clean sheet.

The Stars improved its record to (2-4-0, 6 points) and the Legacy still sits without a victory (0-5-0, 0 points) so far this season.

“After winning 2-0 at home, I can’t be more happy,” Chicago Stars coach Martin Sjogren said. “We could do a little bit better. I’m just going to enjoy the victory. I believe the box defending was really good. What we saw was a lot of shots. We were compacted in our own box. We worked really hard to keep a clean sheet.”

Boston did have the advantage with shots over Chicago with 27 of them to just 6 for the Stars. Keeper Atkinson was in the right spots making save after save throughout the entire match.

“I’m super grateful to be a part of this team,” Atkinson said. “The win meant a lot for us. We had two-in-a-half weeks of an international break to put it upon us. To see (a clean sheet) made it more special. I have to give all the credit to the rest of the team. They let me in great positions to let me know where to be going. They chose the right spots to make blocks and especially on the corners to be in the right spots. It was not just the defense, but from front to back they all did a great job.”

Stars opened the scoring early with a goal in the 10th minute of play off a set piece. Jordyn Huitema scored her second goal of the season off an Aaliyah Farmer corner kick for a 1-0 Chicago lead.

Chicago added a second goal in the 51st minute. Nadia Gomes scored her fist goal of the season off a lead pass from Ryan Gareis in the final third in front of the Legacy goal for a 2-0 advantage.

“I did look at the goalie and the goal,” Gomes said. ” I was the last one to make the run before the defender. I was lucky to see the pass and it was amazing.”

Boston had plenty of chances around the Chicago defense and just couldn’t find a way to finish in the final third. A lot of the shots were either blocked, sent over the bar or right at the Stars keeper Atkinson.

“Our performance wasn’t too good and we didn’t score goals,” Boston Legacy coach Filipa Patao said. “We continue to have opportunities and don’t score. Right now, we’ve got to focus on scoring goals. It’s not about position and not about performance. I feel the way we play and create chances we just don’t score. If we continue to play like this, we won’t win games.”

The Legacy through five matches continue to see the problems of not scoring and still searching for the right combination for a victory.

“It’s not about what the other team is doing it’s what we do,” Patao said. “We were not in the battle for the finish. To make the goal sometimes is hard. We have to continue to work to score more goals.”

Boston will next host the North Carolina Courage Wednesday 6 p.m. EDT. Chicago’s next match will be taking on visiting Gotham FC also on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CDT.