Chicago Red Stars' Struggles Continue in 3-1 Loss to North Carolina Courage

The Chicago Red Stars once again struggled to create consistent scoring chances and extended their winless streak to five matches after losing 3-1 to the North Carolina Courage on Sunday in Cary.

Chicago scored first but weren’t able to recover after each of the Courage’s goals and now find themselves slowly falling out of the NWSL Playoff picture.

Everything started wonderfully for the Red Stars in the sweltering North Carolina heat and Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute through some miraculous play from Mallory Swanson.

Swanson collected a throw-in from Jenna Bike, heel-flicked the ball to herself, and made a massive run toward Orlando’s penalty area. Swanson cut to her left and just as she reached the penalty area, hit a left-footed shot across the face of goal and into the corner of the net to give her side an early 1-0 lead on the road.

The positives ended there for Chicago.

Leilanni Nesbeth was dispossessed deep in the Red Stars’ half of the pitch and the loose ball fell perfectly to Brianna Pinto with space. Pinto played the ball to Tyler Lussi on her right and Lussi had no problem scoring to tie the match at one in the 16th minute.

It was back and forth until halftime but North Carolina was clearly the stronger side.

A bouncing ball fell perfectly to the Courage’s Ashley Sanchez in the 51st minute and she managed to hit a lovely shot into the corner of the net, giving her side the 2-1 lead with plenty of time remaining.

The Red Stars hardly tested Courage GK Casey Murphy after going down 2-1 and it was Chicago’s old friend Bianca St-Georges who helped the Courage put the match away. St-Georges made a nice attacking run with the ball down the right side in the 81st minute and played a perfect cross to the wide-open Meredith Speck, who tapped in the cross to seal her side’s 3-1 win at home and their first match with multiple goals since April 13.

Match Observations

North Carolina had the first chance of the match in the tenth minute after the match had been played largely in the midfield to that point. Leilanni Nesbeth fouled Hailey Hopkins on the edge of Chicago’s penalty area, setting the hosts up for a nice set-piece opportunity.

The Red Stars jumped ahead in the 12th minute and, of course, it was Mallory Swanson who created it for Chicago. Jenna Bike played a throw-in North Carolina’s defenders near midfield that gave Swanson just enough space to heel-flick the ball to herself and begin a long run toward goal. Swanson took a few dribbles on the right side, and cut to her left as they got to North Carolina’s penalty area. Swanson looked up and hit a perfect shot back across the face of goal, giving her side the early 1-0 lead on the road.

The fun didn’t last for the Red Stars. Riley Jackson knocked the ball away from Leilanni Nesbeth deep in Chicago’s own half of the pitch, springing her side’s attack out of nowhere. Brianna Pinto collected the loose ball and played a perfectly weighted pass to Tyler Lussi on the right, who had no problem knocking the ball past a diving Alyssa Naeher to tie the contest at one in the 16th minute.

Ally Schlegel left the match in the 23rd minute with an injury and was replaced by Jameese Joseph.

North Carolina had a great chance to take the lead in the 30th minute but a crucial tackle from Tatumn Milazzo kept it a 1-1 match. Ryan Williams made a run down the right side and hit a perfect cross into the center of Chicago’s penalty area. Hailey Hopkins was ready to pounce on the loose ball to give her side the lead before Milazzo slid in and knocked the ball off Hopkins and out of play.

Chicago had a golden chance to retake the lead in the 37th minute but Leilanni Nesbeth’s shot left a whole lot to be desired. Sam Staab played a long throw-in from the right side that bounced to Nesbeth on the left side of the penalty area. Nesbeth hit a shot the first time but it flew right at Casey Murphy, who made the easy save. If Nesbeth went to either side of Murphy with her shot, Chicago would’ve had the lead.

Alyssa Naeher made a massive save in the 44th minute to ensure the match went into halftime with its 1-1 scoreline. Felicitas Rauch had the ball in the middle of the pitch and hit a lovely ball into Chicago’s penalty area. Brianna Pinto found herself on the inside shoulder of Sam Staab and won a header that was goal-bound before Naeher leaped to her right and made the save. Pinto did so well to get solid positioning on Staab but Naeher did even better to make the diving save.

The Red Stars were outshot nine-three overall and the Courage had seven on-target efforts to only three for Chicago.

Alyssa Naeher made her 600th regular season NWSL save in the 47th minute, denying North Carolina’s great goal-scoring opportunity in front of the net. Ryan Williams played yet another fabulous ball into Chicago’s penalty area that created chaos. Riley Jackson was able to turn Williams’ pass on goal through a mass of humanity and somehow Naeher saw through the traffic and made the chaotic save appear routine.

North Carolina continued to pressure the Red Stars’ backline and they eventually took the lead in the 51st minute through a wonderful strike off the right boot of Ashley Sanchez. The ball made its way to Sanchez at the edge of Chicago’s penalty area and she hit a beautiful strike first-time into the side of the goal, giving Alyssa Naeher zero chance of denying North Carolina’s 2-1 lead.

Jameese Joseph had a perfect chance to tie the match after a mistake by the Courage in the 66th minute. Sam Staab played a ball from in her own half of the pitch that was allowed to bounce multiple times between Courage defenders and it eventually to a wide-open Jameese Joseph. The rookie attacker took a few touches before dragging a left-footed shot just wide of the far post, allowing the chance to go to waste. Joseph’s chance was the first shot from the Red Stars after halftime.

The Red Stars continued to press well but couldn’t hit the target after creating chaos in the 70th minute. A loose ball fell perfectly to substitute Chardonnay Curran but her shot drifted just wide of the net on the half-chance.

North Carolina outshot the Red Stars 14-nine and had eight on-target efforts to only four for Chicago.

Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson didn’t see enough forward movement from his side in North Carolina.

“I think we gotta get forward,” said Donaldson post-match. “We gotta do it consistently. I think our choice of passes wasn't the greatest so obviously, choice. I think we keep going backwards too many times and just need to go forward and put them on their back foot. That's the only way you gotta get goals. We've got to threaten the space in behind and we didn't do a good job at that.”

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