7,959 See A Red Star Eclipse of LA Sol In Chicago WPS Home Finale

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Chicago’s big guns came out to play Sunday.

Cristiane, Carli Lloyd, and Lindsay Tarpley each scored as the Chicago Red Stars closed out their inaugural home season with a bang, ripping WPS regular season champion Los Angeles, 3-1, in front of a franchise-record 7,959 fans at Toyota Park. 

Chicago opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Tarpley found her U.S. Women’s National teammate Lloyd on the right side of the box.  Lloyd put her shot past Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc for her second goal of the season.

The Red Stars scored again quickly after half-time. In the 47th minute, Megan Rapinoe played a long cross into the box where Brittany Klein headed it to Tarpley, who floated a header over the outstretched arms of LeBlanc. The goal was the fourth of the season for the Red Stars’ captain.

After Los Angeles got on the board with a Han Duan goal in the 90th, Chicago answered in stoppage time. Ella Masar picked up the assist on a pass to Cristiane, who took a long run down the left side of the field and into the box. When LeBlanc stepped out to challenge, the Brazilian striker fired a shot into the right side of the net for her team-best seventh tally of the year.

Three goals is the most scored against the Sol in a game this year and lifted Chicago to victory for the first time in four games. The Red Stars have been eliminated from the WPS playoff hunt. Los Angeles has already clinched the league regular season championship but has now gone winless in its last three matches.

Sunday’s attendance of 7,959 established a new franchise record, topping the 5,824 fans that witnessed the first home game in Red Stars history April 19th. It is the third-largest crowd in WPS history—all three of which have involved the Sol.

Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson added to her league-leading save total by stopping six shots in the match. Both teams put seven shots on goal, with Los Angeles outshooting the Red Stars 23-22.

With the win Chicago remains in sixth place in the league standings. The Red Stars will wrap up their inaugural campaign on Wednesday at Saint Louis. Athletica has clinched the second seed for the 2009 WPS Playoffs. 

More information on the game is available at www.chicagoredstars.com.

The win was not unexpected in that Los Angeles had clinched the regular season championship and Chicago had nothing to lose. The fact that Chicago came within a few seconds of stoppage time of defeating Los Angeles on their first meeting, in Los Angeles, also suggested that the Red Stars could and would play tough against the league's behemoth. 

For the home fans who from the beginning of the season expected their team to qualify for the post season, at the very least, the win was bittersweet. But, any fan in the stands would have told you, despite missing out on the playoffs, the game was anything but meaningless.

It was an opportunity for the Red Stars to prove a point, that on any given day they can play with the best in the league. It was also an opportunity for a love-fest between the team and its fans. 

At a ceremony following the match, Chicago Head Coach Emma Hayes told the faithful, "You are the best fans in the league. I mean it." And those who witnessed it, had no doubt that she did. Team Captian Lindsay Tarpley echoed those sentiments in her post-game interveiw. "We have such great fans here," she said. "It just makes us want to come out and give our all on the field to show them how much we appreciate their support." 

And after that, a familiar mantra to Chicago sports fans: "Wait until next year."