Queens of the Road No More: Red Stars Fall from the Sky (Blue)

The Chicago Red Stars are undefeated on the road no more.

Rosana scored an unassisted goal in the 24th minute to put Sky Blue FC past the Chicago Red Stars, 1-0, Wednesday night at Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University. 

Rosana’s goal followed a Chicago foul by Megan Rapinoe against Heather O’Reilly along the right touchline.  Off the resulting free kick, O’Reilly crossed the ball into the box where it ricocheted around before Rosana was able to position a solid shot just beyond the reach of Red Star keeper Caroline Jonsson. 

The shot, from the top of the 6-yard box, was the Brazilian star's second goal of the season.

The Red Stars got a pair of strong chances early in the second half from forward Danesha Adams, who made her first start of the season in the contest, but Sky Blue FC goalkeeper Jenni Branam was up to the challenge on each.

It was the sixth time in 11 matches this season that the Red Stars have been shutout.

Sky Blue FC outshot Chicago, 13-8, with each team putting five shots on target.  Branam's five saves were one better than her Red Stars counterpart.

Momentum was the biggest casualty of the contest. After three consecutive losses, all at home, the Red Stars appeared to be regaining their mojo with the continuation of their road streak.

Despite Chicago's surprisingly low offensive output for the season thus far, and their equally surprising losses at home to teams they had previously defeated or tied (with the exception of FC Gold Pride), that unbeaten road streak was the one positive indicator the team and its supporters could hang their hopes on.  

Thanks to their road momentum going into the game, Chicago was tied for fourth place. This was also encouraging, since fourth place is the cut off for the playoffs. Now that the second half of the season is in full swing, jockeying for postseason position is crucial. 

With this loss, the club's momentum is reversed at a critical juncture. Chicago falls from fourth to seventh in the standings at 2-4-5.

Chicago suffered from "come from behind syndrome" that seems to be plaguing the league this season. As noted in my article (WPS Needs Psychologists), there has yet to be a come from behind win in WPS.

The Red Stars have suffered more from this affliction than most. In the words of coach Emma Hayes, "We simply lost the game in the first half tonight. It's always difficult to come back from being a goal down, but particularly so in this league where you rarely see a team come from behind and win. We need to look at our personnel this week and find the players who are capable of making a difference in the final third."

Sky Blue, on the other hand, appears to be trending strongly in the right direction. They have now beaten the Red Stars in two of three matches and despite a coachintg shakeup (or because of it), they are quickly advancing, displacing the Red Stars in a three-way tie for fourth at 3-5-3. 

On a personal note, it was Red Star Carly Lloyd's first trip back to her old home pitch.

"I really enjoyed playing at Yurcak Field tonight," she said, in a post game interview. "I miss being at Rutgers—this was my home for four years. I had family and friends in the stands tonight, and while it was exciting to play in front of them it was unfortunate that we couldn't get the win."

The Red Stars return home to TOYOTA PARK on Sunday, June 21, to face Kristine Lilly and the Boston Breakers at 3 pm. The Breakers are another team that appears to be trending downward after a strong start. 

With that said, and the fact that in their previous match, Chicago scored as many goals against Boston as they have scored against all other opponents combined, the match should be a good one.   

Chicago Red Stars (2-4-5, 11 pts) at Sky Blue FC (3-5-3, 12 pts)
June 17, 2009—Yurcak Field

Scoring
                                          1              2              FINAL
Chicago                               0              0              0                                             
Sky Blue FC                         1              0              1             

Scoring Summary

1. NJ – Rosana, 2, 24.

Chicago Red Stars—Jönsson; Dalmy, Spilger, Oakes, Östberg (Tarpley, 64); Rapinoe (Vandenbergh, 90), Igwe, Lloyd, Klein, Cristiane (Dieke, 80); Adams.

Sky Blue FC—Branam; Schnur, Rampone, Asante, Dowling; Parker (Sitch, 75), Rosana (McCallum, 64), Averbuch, O’Reilly; Kai, White (Buczkowski, 69).

Statistics

SHOTS:                            CHI – 8 NJ – 13
SHOTS ON GOAL:             CHI – 5 NJ – 5
SAVES:                             CHI – 4 NJ – 4
FOULS:                             CHI – 15 NJ – 14
CORNER KICKS:                 CHI – 3 NJ – 5
OFFSIDES:                        CHI – 5 NJ – 5   

Miscoduct Summary

NJ – Rosana (caution; unsporting behavior), 56.
NJ – Kacey White (caution; unsporting behavior), 68.

Referee: Veronica Brito
Referee’s Assistants: Moo Hackett; Ryan Dos Reis.

4th Official: Brian Dunn
Time of Game: 1:52
Attendance: 2,611
Weather: 63 degrees, cloudy.

All statistics included in this box score are unofficial.