WPS: Refs 2, Sky Blue FC 1, Chicago Red Stars 0

BRIDGEVIEW, IL-The Chicago Red Stars had several close calls on the attacking side, but came up empty in a 1-0 loss to New Jersey Sky Blue FC in Women's Professional Soccer at Toyota Park.

Tasha Kai's 52nd-minute goal was the difference maker as Sky Blue improved to 2-1-0, while the Red Stars fell to 0-1-2.

Both Sky Blue wins have come against Chicago. They topped the Red Stars 1-0 on April 11 in Piscataway, N.J., the Sky Blue's home opener.

The Red Stars outshot Sky Blue 17-8 dominating the second half with a 13-2 margin. Sky Blue goalkeeper Karen Bardsley made six saves in the game and recorded her second shutout against the Red Stars.

Defensively, the New Jersey back line played well providing a tenacious and nearly impenetrable barrier in front of Bardsley.   

Offensively, the Red Stars had a strong attack brewing near the 40th minute when Marian Dalmy provided a cross from the right side to Kosovare Asllani. Asllani put the ball in the back of the net, but was whistled for offsides.

In the 68th minute, the Red Stars mustered another dangerous chance. But Cristiane also was called offsides and Chicago remained scoreless.

For the match's lone goal in the 52nd minute, Sky Blue's Kai lofted the ball over Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden to give her team a 1-0 lead. Earlier in the match, Kai nearly gave Sky Blue the lead in the 44th minute when she again tried to direct the ball over Loyden. But Loyden punched the ball just enough to deflect it off of the crossbar.

Former Red Stars midfielder Carli Lloyd was injured during the first half and had to leave the match. 

Were it not for horrendous officiating, Chicago would have come away victorious. They were whistled for offsides twice both nullifying goals in front of 3,000-plus fans on a cold blustery day.

Judging from the fan reaction including a chorus of boos, the Red Stars performance wasn't appreciated. From comments by both coaches, they disagreed with the officials offsides call.

The league has acknowledged that officiating is an issue and it's time to take decisive action to resolve it. Commissioner Tonya Antonucci has acknolwedged the problem but called it "a work in progress." She needs to do whatever is necessary to make it the work complete.

I could say more, but my 12 year old daughter has handled the officiating issue so well in her Kid's Column that I'll simply defer to her analaysis and link you to it. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/384418-kids-column-red-stars-vs-sky-blue-fc-poop?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share

The Red Stars head out on the road their next two matches starting a 5 p.m. tilt against the Boston Breakers on Saturday, May 1, in Allston, Mass. Then they travel to FC Gold Pride in Hayward, California the following week.

Chicago's next home match takes place May 15, against the expansion Philadelphia Independence at p.m.

Injury Report: Brazilian international Formiga, who is recovering from a preseason injury, made her first appearance subbing in for Brittany Klein in the 58th minute.

Forward and US Women's National standout Megan Rapinoe continues her recovery from mononucleosis.

She's been training but has not been cleared for competition. A team spokesperson stated Rapinoe's status will be reviewed for possible activation for next week's match.   

Sky Blue FC (2-1-0, 4 points) at Chicago Red Stars (0-2-1, 1 point)
April 25, 2010 -- Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
Sky Blue FC 1, Chicago Red Stars 0
Sky Blue 0 1 - 1
Red Stars 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY
1. Tasha Kai (Kacey White), 52nd minute.

Red Stars: Loyden, Dalmy, Markgraf, Dieke, Engen, Asllani, Chapman, Klein (Formiga, 58), Carney (Masar, 74), Sitch (Nogueira, 56)

Sky Blue: Bardsley, Dowling, Taylor, Schnur, Koster, O'Reilly, Lloyd (White, 36), Rosana, Kalmari, Landstrom (Schoepfer, 70), Kai (Dallstream, 80)

STATISTICS:
Shots: Sky Blue 8, Red Stars 17
Shots on goal: Sky Blue 6, Red Stars 6
Saves: Sky Blue 6, Red Stars 4
Corner kicks: Sky Blue 1, Red Stars 4
Offsides: Sky Blue 5, Red Stars 2
Fouls: Sky Blue 9, Red Stars 13
Referee: Margaret Domka
Referee's assistants: Kristen Schiereck; Ian Gut
Fourth official: Jorge Cuate
Attendance: 3,136

POST-GAME QUOTES:
Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes:
"I thought Sky Blue came out aggressively in the first half, in the first 20 I thought they had the better of the play. But once we settled down and got on the ball and got our midfield involved I thought we got more dangerous as the first half progressed, and we dominated the latter stages of that period. I think the weather had an impact on the quality of our end product, but anyone who knows me knows I'm not an excuse maker."

"We're here to get results. We're not putting the ball in the back of the net and that's important for me to address that in training to make sure we're finishing off our opportunities."

Red Stars midfielder Karen Carney:
"I didn't expect their goal; it kind of came out of nothing. I thought we were in control of the game and we were doing really well and then we get sucker punched."

"Obviously, you can't blame luck. We've got to be more clinical at the end of the day. We've got to bounce back from this. Everyone goes through up and down patches in a 20-game season, we've just got to learn from it. We're not a bad team, we're a good team. We're just learning, the better we can learn from these errors and mistakes and go forward then we'll be OK. We've got a lot of talent -- we'll be ok. We've just got to find that last little gear."

Sky Blue Head Coach Pauliina Miettinen:
On Tasha Kai’s goal changing their play: "With everything that happened today with the wind and the environment and Carli [Lloyd] getting hurt, we probably changed in our mind a little bit, which I try to remind them that this is 0-0 game, but it's almost like automatic. In that environment you become a little more defensive. I think it changed our game a little bit more defensively."

"There were so many chances that Chicago created and all credit to them for those chances. Sometimes teams have to earn their luck and I think we fought hard today and we were a little bit lucky."

Photo by Chris Bernacchi

Caption: Red Stars midfielder Karen Carney got the start in the midfield during Chicago's 1-0 loss to Sky Blue FC on Sunday at Toyota Park.