Chicago Red Stars Break Into the Win Column vs Breakers in Boston

The Chicago Red Stars landed at Boston's Logan Airport not only desperate for a win, but for an offensive statement. Their desperation paid off in a 2-0 victory that was even more lopsided than the score would indicate.

Ironically, after opening their inaugural season last year with two draws, and only one goal in the first two matches, the Red Stars broke out against Boston's Breakers at home in Toyota Park with a 4-0 barrage.

For an excellent play by play and commentary of the match, the following article by the Boston Bleacher Report team, Steven Apostolov and Lee Pender , www.BostonBreakersReport.com .

In the 73rd minute of tonight’s match against the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars head coach Emma Hayes made an unusual substitution: She pulled midfielder Karen Carney and sent in forward Ella Masar.

While it’s not rare to see a manager make an offensive substitution in an effort to make up a deficit, Hayes’s move was notable because when she made it, Chicago already held a 2-0 lead away from home.

The manager’s decision, though, was an appropriate metaphor for what Chicago did to Boston in a vicious second half that could have ended worse for the Breakers than it did.  

“Why not?” Hayes (pictured with this article) responded when asked about her go-for-the-jugular tactics. “We knew we had them on the back foot. We could have had three or four [goals].”

As it turned out, the Red Stars scored twice, which was more than enough to sink a disorganized Breakers side that had trouble holding possession and managed very few serious scoring chances. The 2-0 victory was Chicago’s first win of the season and Boston’s first loss.

In their first three games, the Red Stars had managed only two losses and a draw. After tonight’s win, they have four points in the table, just one fewer than the Breakers. For their part, the Breakers have now won one match, tied two and lost one—and have failed to win at home in their first two attempts. Most fans in the raucous crowd of 5,180 left Harvard Stadium disappointed.

The match could have gone quite differently had Chicago goalkeeper Jillian Loyden not quite literally used her head to make the save of the match in first-half extra time. Boston forward Lauren Cheney got on the end of a Fabiana cross and sent in a blistering ball that hit Loyden in the face. Loyden’s “save,” such as it was, served to keep the game at 0-0 and close out a mostly uneventful first half.

“It hit [Loyden] in the face, and it was a game-changing moment,” Hayes said. It was at halftime that the Red Stars players made it known to Hayes that they could have the better of Boston. “They said, ‘They’re frightened of us; we’re going after them,” Hayes said. “I said, ‘I have nothing to say to you.’”

From that point on, the Red Stars did their talking on the pitch. Gradually, they managed to put together a cohesive attack, building on Boston’s inability to control the ball at midfield. Finally, in the 62nd minute, the dam broke. Chicago forward Casey Nogueira took a cross directly in front of goal and sliced it across the body of Boston goalie Ashley Phillips—from Phillips’s left-hand side to her right—and into the corner of the net.

“I think Karen Carney put it across,” Nogueira said of the ball that led to the goal. “I just sprinted and shot it across the goal line. The goal gave us confidence and put Boston on their heels.”

Indeed, the goal transformed the Red Stars, who had been feeling pressure to get their first victory of the season. Seven minutes later, in the 69th minute, Brazilian forward Cristiane streaked up the left wing to a ball that had floated into space, controlled it, and slammed a tight-angle shot past a prone Phillips. The ball again traveled from Phillips’s left-hand side to her right and into the net.

Hayes’s attacking substation followed, and while it didn’t lead to another goal, it sent a message that the Red Stars were confident that a good offense could be their best defense.

The last 20 minutes of the match brought more chances for Chicago than for Boston—Cristiane bonked a ball off of Phillips’s left-hand post in the 76th minute after running onto a fine ball from Nogueira. The Breakers produced a few scoring chanced but never looked close to equalizing in the last 15 minutes.

Boston suffered its first shutout of the season and mostly folded in the second half after a solid but unspectacular first period. The Breakers also struggled to keep possession of the ball, particularly after halftime, and their attack was disorganized and out of sync for most of the evening.  

Recognizing his club’s shortfalls, Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco nevertheless rued the team’s missed chances: “We kept on giving the ball away, and they took advantage of it,” DiCicco said. “They worked really hard, and they made us make mistakes. If we took advantage of our chances [during the first half], it would have been a different game. They took advantage of their chances, so give them credit.”

Potent Boston striker Lauren Cheney, held in check tonight, said that possession is a problem that the Breakers will have to overcome: “We had a little issue in the midfield today,” Cheney said. “Timing was not good, and we had big gaps. We did not find ways to close those. I know we’ll change. Once we play with each other a little bit more, this will no longer be an issue.”

But the main factor in tonight’s game might have simply been motivation; Chicago, desperate to win, took the game in the second half to a Boston team that couldn’t match its opponent’s desire for victory.

“We looked a little dead out there,” Boston captain Kristine Lilly said. “We did not have the heart. That’s something we need to look at. You have to give Chicago credit. They came to win this game, and they played like it.”

Familiar Faces:

Tonight, the Red Stars enjoyed a reunion with a former teammate. Breakers midfielder Chioma Igwe started in 11 of 15 games for the Red Stars during the 2009 season. Igwe has been a regular fixture in the early going for Boston this season, starting in all three matches and logging 244 minutes.

Another Boston Breaker with Chicago connections is defender Amy LePeilbet.  The Crystal Lake native and graduate of Prairie Ridge High School was named the 2009 MedImmune Defender of the Year and started for the WPS All-Stars in their 4-2 win over Sweden’s Umea IK last year.

Injury Report:

Chicago Red Stars medical staff cleared midfielder Megan Rapinoe to play following her recovery from mononucleosis, the Women's Professional Soccer organization announced Wednesday. Rapinoe missed the team's first three matches of the 2010 WPS season.

Rapinoe played in 17 matches during the inaugural 2009 WPS season, contributing two goals and three assists. The first-round selection (second overall) out of the University of Portland in the 2009 WPS College Draft played for the WPS All-Stars during their 4-2 victory over Sweden's Umea IK following the inaugural WPS season. Rapinoe also led the U.S. Women's National Team with five goals last year.

Forward Kosovare Asllani will miss three to four weeks of action due to a fractured rib suffered during the previous match versus Sky Blue FC.

Next Home Match:

Chicago's next home match takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 15, against the expansion Philadelphia Independence at Toyota Park. The match is part of the Red Stars Family Four-Pack ticket series, and fans can participate in Photo Day and snap pictures with their favorite Red Stars.