Casey Nogueria Gets First WPS Goal As Chicago Ties Athletica In Home Opener

BRIDGEVIEW, IL (April 17, 2010)—It didn't take long to quiet the crowd at Toyota Park during the Chicago Red Stars' home-opener against arch-rival St. Louis Athletica. Athletica midfielder Lori Chalupny put the ball in the right corner of the Red Stars' goal from point-blank range in the fourth minute. Chalupny's score came unassisted after Chicago goalkeeper Jillian Loyden batted away a shot earlier in the sequence.

Those who had seen the Red Stars fall behind quickly in their season-opener the previous week at New Jersey were bracing themselves for more of the same. And for the next six minutes, it appeared that's exactly the way it would be, as Chicago was back on their heels defending their own end.

In the ninth minute momentum began to swing. The Red Stars had their first opportunity, and the second, and the third, as forward Ella Masar and midfielder Julianne Sitch made successive, rapid-fire attempts inside the goal box.

In the 21st minute, Masar broke through again, stared a golden, close-range, one-on-one opportunity in the face. But she did not get a good foot on the ball, and her shot was an easy save for Athletica keeper Hope Solo.

The Red Stars' next good opportunity came in the 39th minute when Sitch had a nice run down the left side. She attempted to feed Cristiane but put the ball too far ahead of the Brazilian international, who was unable to capitalize. 

A few minutes later, Cristiane made the hardest shot of the match during first-half injury time. Solo batted it away and midfielder Brittany Klein was there, but unable to control the volley.  

The second half opened with Chicago increasing offensive pressure—much of it inside the penalty box, but a series of poor passes robbed the Red Stars of what could have been some excellent opportunities.

And in Toyota Park the ghost of games past began to cast a similar shadow, in which the offense could dominate but not deliver.

The half also opened with a curious substitution. Masar, a University of Illinois alumnus in her second year as a pro and a Red Star, had been doing most of the heavy lifting in the first half. She had been the fastest feet on the pitch and had been involved in nearly all of the offensive chances. Yet coach Emma Hayes chose to sub Masar out for rookie and US international, Casey Nogueira.

Before anyone could second guess the substitution, Nogueira made it clear she could step into Masar's role and go one better.

In the 60th minute the rookie, from the women's soccer factory that is the University of North Carolina, made a beautiful arching shot from the left corner of the penalty box that floated over Solo into the back of the net on the far post, tallying Nogueira's first strike as a pro and her club's first of the new season. Midfielder and English international Katie Chapman earned the club's first assist.

Commenting on the goal, Solo said, "I saw Casey Nogueira, and I knew exactly what she was going to do. Because that's her shot. On the national team, that's her shot. She's better than anyone I know at that kind of bent ball far post. I saw early enough that she was going to do it. I wish I would have kept cheating."

A little later, Swedish international Kosovare Asllani had a golden opportunity one-on-one down the right, but way overshot the goal.

In the 89th minute, Nogueira had an opportunity from close range with Solo out of position after batting away a previous shot. Instead of keeping it on the ground though, Nogueira shot high, the ball cleared the top of the crossbar, and with it, sailed the Red Stars last opportunity to win.

Afterward, Noguiera said she felt the pain of what might have been more than anyone. "That was a sitter. I should have just placed it, and I blasted it; it went right over."

It was another good offensive showing overall, with the significant improvement of connecting on at least one goal.

The defense also looked solid, especially on the right side where another North Carolina rookie, Whitney Engen, worked alongside Scottish international Ifeome Dieke. Engen, who had what most would describe as a tentative start in last week's contest, showed confidence, energy, and aggressive defense throughout the match, sometimes taking the attack deep into the St. Louis end.

As the game progressed Chicago's back line became increasingly involved in the offense, as observed by Solo. 

"They came at us with numbers. They threw everything at us," Solo said. "At times it looked like they had a far aggressive back line. And it was hard to control. I think our best defense against them was moving the ball on the attack."

Other players who stood out, though not necessarily on the stats sheets, included WPS All-Star Brittany Klein, who continued her signature play of hustle, guts, and determination, frequently disrupting the opponents' attack.

Solo, who logged six saves, must have been a little disrupted by seeing her former understudy facing back at her from the Chicago goal. Loyden, who came to Chicago in a trade for the Red Stars' second-leading scorer in January 2010, put in a solid performance. She made a pair of saves and batted away several other potential Saint Louis scoring opportunities.

More importantly, Loyden seems to have added some on-field leadership that could be the secret sauce for a more successful season in 2010, as evident from her post game comments: "It took us a while to get going, but at halftime we were just, 'let's get a buzz, let's get going, let's talk to each other. We're going to make mistakes, but how are we going to react to them and how are we going to fix this and get ourselves out of a rut?' And I think it proved a lot of our character tonight. We worked together as a team and came back and fought a good match."

Meanwhile, Lindsay Tarpley made her first appearance of the season for Athletica when she entered the match in the 77th minute for Eniola Aluko.

So, as the match ended in a 1-1 draw, there was a sense among witnesses and participants alike that the Chicago, made up of an equal number of new and returning players, was beginning to coalesce.

The team got its coach's endorsement: "What a great team comeback!" Hayes told reporters. "You know it's a sense of togetherness, settling their nerves early on and trusting in the confidence they have. Any given day we'll smash a team in WPS, no doubt."

Casey Noguiera gave the crowd of 5,134 credit as well. "It was pretty awesome. The field is amazing and we had a bunch of people there, and you could hear them the whole time and it was an enjoyable first home match for me."

Neither WPS All-Star Megan Rapinoe nor Brazilian international Formiga made an appearance for Chicago. Both missed the season-opener last week coming off injuries, but, according to Hayes, they were ready to play, and both were listed as eligible substitutes.

The Red Stars next match is also at home, Sunday April 26th at 5PM at Toyota Park, when Chicago will have an opportunity to apply lessons learned in their home-opener against New Jersey/New York's Sky Blue FC. Having dominated the defending league champions in every statistic but goals scored in last week's match, the Red Stars hope to master that statistic as well.

A Chicago goal and win next Sunday would both be historic because the Red Stars have yet to defeat or score against Sky Blue in six meetings during two seasons. Their only non-loss to the club came in Chicago's home-opener last year, on a 0-0 draw.

Saint Louis Athletica (1-0-1, 4 points) at Chicago Red Star (0-1-1, 1 point)
April 17, 2010 – Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL
Saint Louis 1, Chicago Red Stars   1
Athletica    1    0    -    1
Red Stars    0    1    -    1
SCORING SUMMARY
1. Lori Chalupny (unassisted), 4th minute; Casey Nogueira (Katie Chapman), 59th minute

Red Stars: Loyden (GK), Dalmy, Markgraf, Dieke, Engen, Asllani, Chapman, Klein (Formiga, 70), Sitch (Carney, 65), Masar (Nogueira, 46), Cristiane.

Saint Louis: Solo (GK), Elaine (Cross 30), Fletcher, Ellertson, Weber, Blank, Chalupny, Boxx, Miyama (Edlund 67), DiMartino, Aluko (Tarpley 77).

STATISTICS
Shots: Red Stars 14, Saint Louis 9
Shots on goal: Red Stars 7, Saint Louis 3
Saves: Red Stars 2, Saint Louis 6
Corner kicks: Red Stars 4, Saint Louis 9
Offsides: Red Stars 3, Saint Louis 6
Fouls: Red Stars 11, Saint Louis 7
Referee: Kari Seitz
Referee's assistants: Veronica Perez; Miguel Panduro
Fourth official: Stephanie Toth
Attendance: 5,134