Stars slump to ninth loss this season

Chicago Stars FC 0-2 San Diego Wave

EVANSTON, IL—Forty percent of the Stars’ season is complete. However, the Stars go into their World Cup break accumulating just 25 percent of the possible points on offer from the first 12 matches of the year—the last of which was a deflating 2-0 loss at Martin Stadium against San Diego Wave.

Mallory Swanson made her first start of the season and the first in over 18 months following maternity leave. However, she would not make much of an impact on this match as opposed to last week at Bay FC although she almost scored direct from a corner kick. She would play 64 minutes before being subbed off.

In fact, San Diego’s impact was more immediate after just the third minute. Lia Godfrey managed to find an unmarked Dudinha who beat Katie Atkinson far post for her fifth of the season (which is as many as the Stars have scored all season).

The visitors had twice as many chances as the Stars in the first half and had more of them in the second half. The Stars finally got their best chances during twelve minutes of stoppage time and though they had an equalizer in the eighth minute of the announced 12. However, VAR determined that Jordyn Huitema was in an offside position receiving a pass from Leilanni Nesbeth before scoring negating a potential equalizer.

Five minutes later, a turnover in the back allowed Dudinha to find Gia Corley in the box who fed to Trinity Byars for the insurance goal and put the Wave back at the top of the table going into the break. The Stars remain second from bottom ahead of Racing Louisville.

“It’s just crazy the way we give away the ball and they scored the second goal and then it’s game over,” said Stars coach Martin Sjögren. “It just annoys me that we keep on doing these, these easy mistakes all the time.

“Right now, I have no idea [what keeps contributing to the easy mistakes]. It’s just hard. It’s hard if you give goals away. It’s hard to win football games. So we have to stop getting also away.”

Despite the dismal start to the season, the players remain optimistic that they can turn things around with players returning from injury.

“We’re down, we’re not out,” said defender Jenna Bike. “I think that’s a huge mentality. You know, if we get points out of this one, it’s a whole different story. So I think, we just tighten up, we sharpen it up, we go into the break, wanting to work hard and get better and fine tune, and then we come out of it.

“One thing about this group, it’s the most optimistic I’ve been about a group. Obviously, we have [Swanson] coming back. We have a lot of injuries. We get people back, it’s a whole different story. It’s a whole different team, and I think we’re resilient. I think that we’ve grown so much since the beginning of the season, and, you know, we put the pieces together, and we’re gonna be a new Chicago by the end of it.”

We will have a summary of the season so far coming up this week. The Stars’ next match will be Sunday, July 5th, at home against Utah Royals. It is hoped that with the potential return of players from the injured list—most notably Alyssa Naeher, Emma Eglizii, and Tessa Dellarose—the Stars can climb up the table.

Photos by Len Cederholm

SCORING SUMMARY:
SD-Dudinha (Godfrey) 3
SD-Trinity Byars (Gorley) 90+13

BOOKING SUMMARY:
SD-Kenza Dali (caution, simulation) 18
SD-Perle Moroni (caution, tactical foul) 23

CHICAGO RED STARS (4-1-4-1): #27-Katie Atkinson; #11-Nadia Gomes (#18-Ivonne Chacon 90), #3-Sam Staab, #6-Kathrin Hendrich, #4-Jenna Bike; #77-Maitane (#13-Leilanni Nesbeth 76); #9-Mallory Swanson (#8-Jamesse Joseph 64), #10-Brianna Pinto (#16-Manaka Hayashi 64), #7-Julia Grosso, #24-Ryan Gareis (#14-Taylor Wood 76); #99-Jordyn Huitema

Subs not used: #22-Halle Mackiewicz, #15-Elise Evans, #23-Micayla Johnson

SAN DIEGO WAVE FC (4-2-3-1): #1-DiDi Haracic; #75-Perle Moroni, #14-Kristen McNabb, #2-Kennedy Wesley, #16-Mimi Van Zanten (#19-Tatum Wynalda 90); #10-Kenza Dali (#18-Laurina Fazer 63), #8-Kimmi Ascanio; #88-Dudinha, #22-Lia Godfrey (#11-Gia Corley 63), #7-Melanie Barcenas (#81-Gabrielle 73); #17-Ludmila (#15-Trinity Byars 73)

Subs Not Used: #99-Leah Friedman, #23-Nya Harrison, #28-Jordan Fusco, #33-Kiki Pickett

TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 10-17 SD
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-7 SD
FOULS: CHI 13-12 SD
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-6 SD
CORNER KICKS: CHI 3-3 SD
SAVES: CHI 5-3 SD

Referee: Robert Vincze
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Schufranz, Mateusz, Dulski
Fourth Official: Cristian Campo Hernandez
VAR: Alexandra Billeter
AVAR: Seun Tinka-Kehinde
Weather: Sunny and 60º
Attendance: 6,014
Woman of the Match: Dudinha (SD)