Chicago Red Stars Keep Clean Sheet, Defeat San Diego Wave 3-0

The Chicago Red Stars went into San Diego and took three points back home with them after a 3-0 win in front of over 24,000 at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego was playing their first match under interim head coach Paul Buckle after firing the only head coach the club has ever had, Casey Stoney, earlier this week and the Red Stars didn’t allow them to build any momentum under new management.

Lorne Donaldson said during his weekly media availability that he expected the Wave to “come out like a bunch of wild hyenas” and he wasn’t wrong. San Diego was pressuring the Red Stars all the way up the pitch from the opening whistle and it helped them largely control the run of play before the halftime break.

San Diego doubled the Red Stars shots (ten-five) and shots on goal (two-one) before halftime but still managed to go into the break with a 1-0 deficit.

Chicago had an early opportunity from a set piece after Mallory Swanson won a free kick just outside the Wave’s penalty area in the ninth minute. The Red Stars were unable to test San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan on the subsequent set piece but they continued to create chances.

Penelope Hocking had a fabulous chance to score at the far post after another Red Stars set piece in the 28th minute but she dragged her effort just wide of the net.

San Diego’s Savannah McCaskill had plenty of great scoring chances against Chicago but couldn’t hit the goal with anything of substance. McCaskill hit the target with a looping header in the 19th minute but couldn’t test Alyssa Naeher on two open chances. The Wave’s midfielder completely skied the net on a wide-open shot in the 24th minute and then failed to hit the target with her diving header in the 53rd.

Chicago finally broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute thanks to an assist from the Wave.

Mallory Swanson made a massive run across the pitch with the ball after being played it by Sam Staab near midfield. Swanson played a quick give-and-go with Jenna Bike at the edge of the Wave’s penalty area before hitting a shot that bounced of San Diego defender Naomi Girma and into the hosts’ net.

Everything turned in Chicago’s favor in the second half and Lorne Donaldson’s decision to bring rookie Jameese Joseph on at halftime was a major reason why.

Joseph terrorized the Wave’s backline with her relentless pressure and that pressure directly led to two goals for the Red Stars.

Joseph won the ball from the Wave’s Hanna Lundkvist in the 67th minute, took two touches and played a perfect through ball that Mallory Swanson knocked off the crossbar and in the net to give Chicago the 2-0 lead as Joseph collected her first professional assist.

Joseph added her first professional goal moments later in the 69th minute. Abby Dahlkemper lost control of the ball and Joseph danced between her and Kailen Sheridan before knocking the ball into the net to extend Chicago’s lead to 3-0.

The Wave were given a lifeline after earning a penalty kick but Alex Morgan completely missed the target with her effort from 12 yards and the Red Stars were able to secure their second clean sheet of 2024.

The win snaps a five-match winless streak for Chicago and is the fourth win of the season for the Red Stars on the road.

Match Observations

The Red Stars created a great scoring chance in the tenth minute that went completely against the run of play after the Wave’s press was effective early on. Penelope Hocking played a pass to Mallory Swanson after a long ball from Alyssa Naeher that gave Swanson an angle to make a run toward the goal. Swanson was taken down by Kristen McNabb right outside of San Diego’s penalty area, earning her side a free kick on the right side while McNabb’s name went in the referee’s book. The subsequent free kick was initially taken before the whistle by Sam Staab but her actual left-footed effort flew just above the crossbar, sparing the Wave from an early deficit.

The Wave should have taken the lead in the 24th minute. Makenzy Doniak made a strong run down the right flank and hit a lovely cross that found a wide-open Savannah McCaskill on the left side of Chicago’s penalty area. McCaskill had time to line up a shot but she skied the open net, bailing out a Red Stars backline that was broken down well by Doniak.

The Red Stars had another great chance from a set piece in the 28th minute but again failed to test San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. Mallory Swanson won a free kick after a nice give-and-go with Penelope Hocking inside the Wave’s half of the pitch and she hit the subsequent set-piece to the edge of the host’s penalty area. Leilanni Nesbeth got a touch on the ball and it fell to Penelope Hocking in space on the left but the Red Stars 2023 first-round pick dragged her shot wide of the net. Sheridan looked like she had the post covered if Hocking had hit the target but Chicago had plenty of players up the pitch ready to pounce on the rebound that never came.

Bea Franklin came back into the starting 11 after missing out on the loss in North Carolina due to a suspension. Franklin was busy early on and her relentless effort on the high-press nearly created a goal for the Red Stars in the 29th minute. Franklin won consecutive headers after attempted clearances from the Wave and the second one was tracked down in space by a goal-seeking Mallory Swanson. Chicago’s number nine collected the pass and made a run toward the endline before hitting a shot that flew just wide of San Diego’s net. Swanson did incredibly well to get between San Diego defenders to collect the pass from Franklin but Chicago’s rookie midfielder deserves heaps of credit for putting her head on the line to win attempted clearances.

The Wave had more chances in the Chicago penalty area in the 39th minute but failed to get anything that tested Alyssa Naeher. Jaedyn Shaw’s corner kick bounced to Kristen McNabb on the right side and the left back’s shot was goal-bound before Hannah Anderson booted the effort away from danger. Makenzy Doniak collected the clearance but her shot from the right side flew harmlessly above the Red Stars net.

It wasn’t pretty but the Red Stars managed to take the lead in the 42nd minute after a fabulous run from Mallory Swanson. She was played the ball near midfield by Sam Staab before bringing the ball near the Wave’s penalty area and played a pass to Jenna Bike to her left. Bike immediately sent a pass back to Swanson towards the endline and Chicago’s leading goal-scorer hit a shot that deflected off Naomi Girma and into the Wave’s net. Swanson won’t get the goal on paper but her run across the field put her in the position to score this ugly goal for the Red Stars.

Penelope Hocking was assessed a yellow card in the 45th minute, her fifth of the NWSL season. She will now miss out on Chicago’s match on July 6 against the Houston Dash due to card accumulation.

The Wave doubled Chicago’s overall shots to ten-five and on-target efforts to two-one in the opening 45 minutes.

Jaedyn Shaw forced Alyssa Naeher into a heroic save in the 51st minute to keep the match 1-0 in Chicago’s favor. Emily van Egmond’s pass was collected by Shaw with her back to goal centrally just outside of the Red Stars’ penalty area. Shaw created space between herself and Cari Roccaro and hit a right-footed effort that was heading into the corner of the net before Naeher parried the effort away. Shaw created that chance from nothing and Naeher showed immense quality while denying the spectacular effort.

Shaw continued to create chances for San Diego but her teammates couldn’t match her quality. Alex Morgan had the ball in Chicago’s penalty area in the 53rd minute and played it back to Shaw at the edge of the 18. Shaw hit a cross to the far post that Savannah McCaskill should’ve been able to head on goal but the midfielder, again, missed the target on a great goal-scoring chance.

The Red Stars began to really pressure San Diego and nearly took the 2-0 lead in the 65th minute. Jameese Joseph’s header after a bad Wave clearance fell right to Mallory Swanson and she had a perfect line on goal but her effort was saved by the boot of a sprawling Kailen Sheridan.

Chicago finally took the 2-0 lead in the 67th minute and it was all started by Jameese Joseph’s defensive pressure. Joseph took the ball away from Hanna Lundkvist and immediately made a run towards the San Diego penalty area. Joseph took two touches before hitting a lovely through ball to Mallory Swanson, who took one touch before ripping a left-footed shot off the crossbar and into the Wave’s net. The assist was the first of Joseph’s professional career and Swanson finally got her sixth goal of the season after the Girma own goal.

Jameese Joseph already put her stamp on the match when she collected her first professional assist but decided that she might as well score her first professional goal as well in San Diego. Jenna Bike hit a long ball that Abby Dahlkemper made a mess of inside her own half of the pitch, allowing Joseph a free one-on-one run against Kailen Sheridan. Joseph cut to her right and got around Sheridan before tapping the ball into the open net to give her side the 3-0 lead in the 69th minute.

The Wave were awarded a penalty kick after Sam Staab was assessed a yellow card for a handball in Chicago’s penalty area. Fortunately for the Red Stars, Alex Morgan skied the net with her spot kick and Chicago got away scot-free.

Tatumn Milazzo has had a wonderful bounce-back season after a tough 2023 campaign and she cleared what feels like her millionth shot off the goal-line in the 81st minute to maintain the clean sheet for her side. Alex Morgan managed to get a shot that was heading into the net as she collided with Alyssa Naheher but Milazzo slid in and knocked the ball away from danger just as it was about to cross the goalline.

Alyssa Naeher made four saves en route to her second clean sheet of the 2024 NWSL season. The shutout marked her 40th with the Red Stars, the most in NWSL history with one club, per the NWSL+ broadcast.

Swanson loved the way her team performed while snapping their five-match winless streak in a week that she was named to the United States Women’s Olympic Soccer Team .

“It feels good,” said Swanson. “I think it’s just a credit to the way that we trained this week. It was a short week but I think everyone, mentally, was in check, myself included. I think I just needed to continue the trajectory I was on and, yeah, ultimately it was a success.”

“It was a tough performance from all the players,” said Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson. “The rookies, all the rookies did well, so, you know, congrats to that. But everybody, the staff, everybody worked hard this week, because we knew we had to get something out of this trip.”

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