Credit Chicago Red Stars
By Amelia Hirtle
The Chicago Red Stars took on the Challenge Cup champion Portland Thorns in their first matchup of the regular season on Sunday, May 16.
The Red Stars struggled defensively early on and Portland took advantage. In the 4th minute, Thorns forward Sophia Smith took a shot off of a set-piece and the ball was deflected off of Red Stars defender Tierna Davidson for an own goal. Chicago then came down the field and was awarded a corner kick, but could not connect in the box. The Thorns were given a penalty in the 13th minute off a foul from Mallory Pugh and Thorns forward Christine Sinclair put it through to make it 2-0. Three minutes later the Thorns scored again off a pass from Weaver to Smith to make it 3-0 Thorns.
Chicago was then looking to counter and Kealia Watt gave a good pass to Vanessa DiBernardo but her shot was off target. An injury to Chicago midfielder Julie Ertz in the 26th minute forced her to leave the match. Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh brought the ball up the pitch herself and took a shot but Thorns keeper Adrianna Franch made the save. The Thorns scored again off a pass from Weaver to Smith to make it 4-0.
Chicago keeper Alyssa Naeher made a great save off of a Lindsay Horan header in stoppage time in the first half.
Chicago came out better defensively in the second half after they struggled to mark players in the first. Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher made two great saves early in the second half. Thorns forward Christine Sinclair had a shot in the box which was initially deflected by Naeher but Thorns player Tyler Lussi was there to put the ball in the back of the net to make it 5-0 Thorns. The last chance of the night for Chicago came from a nice cut back from Casey Krueger but it was punched away by Franch.
After the match, head coach of the Chicago Red Stars, Rory Dames said that Mallory Pugh was one of the bright spots on the night. He said she had a bounce in her step \and when she was on the ball she looked dangerous.
The Red Stars will look to bounce back from their loss when they take on Gotham FC next Saturday, May 22nd at 7:00 PM CT.