April 27, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Chicago Red Stars News Release
CHICAGO – The Chicago Red Stars fell to Portland Thorns FC 0-2 in the clubs’ first meeting of the season. Tonight’s match marked the first of three matches in nine days for the Red Stars with Washington Spirit coming to visit Wednesday, May 1, and then heading to California to take on expansion side, Bay FC Sunday, May 5.
KEY MOMENTS:
4′ Chicago’s Ally Schlegel sends a cross into Portland’s 18-yard box that finds Mallory Swanson unmarked. Swanson takes a strike that hits the crossbar, deflects straight down, but is ruled to not have crossed the line and doesn’t count as a goal
6′ Portland tries to answer back quickly with a cross from Christine Sinclair into Chicago’s box that finds the head of Reyna Reyes, but good positioning and quick reflexes by Chicago’s Natalia Kuikka save a goal and keep the score 0-0
10′ Portland’s Sophia Smith receives a ball on the right of Chicago’s box, takes a dribble to free up space, takes a shot and puts Portland ahead, 0-1
21′ Chicago’s Penelope Hocking takes the ball off the foot of a Portland defender in their defensive third, dribbles deep into their 18-yard box and sends in a low cross, but Portland’s keeper corrals the ball
26′ Portland’s Sinclair finds Sophia Smith, this time on the left side of Chicago’s box and gets a shot into the net to extend the lead, 0-2 Portland
45+1′ On a Red Stars corner kick, Sam Staab delivers a ball to the head of Julia Bianchi who directs it toward goal, but the ball hits the far post and is cleared, 0-2 Portland Thorns
83′ A free kick by Chicago forces Portland’s keeper to come out, but they are unable to secure the ball that goes toward the back post to the feet of Chardonnay Curran who tries to poke the ball into the goal, but is unsuccessful
89′ Another freekick by Chicago finds the head of Sam Staab, but the defender is unable to get enough power behind her header to trouble the keeper
GAME NOTES:
Tonight, marked Cari Roccaro’s 100th regular-season start
Both Camryn Biegalski and Chardonnay Curran made their season debuts for the Red Stars tonight. Biegalski was previously a member of the club in 2020 and made her professional debut in the Fall Series that year
Despite the scoreline, Chicago had a higher expected goals than Portland (1.45 to 1.4), more shots (16 to 13) and shots inside the box (12 to 8)
Next Game
Chicago Red Stars vs. Washington Spirit May 1, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. CT at SeatGeek Stadium.
Goals by…