WPS Chicago Red Stars Can't Win For Trying, But Can't Lose Either

Chicago Red Stars forward Ella Masar tallied a goal and the Red Stars earned a 1-1 draw against the Atlanta Beat on Wednesday night in Women's Professional Soccer play at Toyota Park.

After making a coaching change it would appear on the surface that most of the same problems that haunted the club under Emma Hayes continue to plague them under new coach Omid Namazi. They have no shortage of scoring opportunities. They dominate in number of shots taken. But they can't find the back of the net.

On the issue of scoring, Coach Namazi said, "It's frustrating. I want to say over the last four games we've been playing very well, we've got the majority of the possession, and we've gotten chances. Unfortunately, we haven't turned those chances into goals. That's been the story."

That is all true, but that is where the comparisons end. Under the new regime, Chicago has nearly eliminated the defensive lapses that poked holes in an otherwise dominant performance on both ends. And perhaps most impressive is that what was always fatal under Coach Hayes—falling behind—has not been so under Namazi.

Since Namazi took the reigns, Chicago has come back for a draw each time they've fallen behind, except one. Instead of panicking and trying too hard to create a score, the Red Stars have made an impressive show of patience when playing with a deficit.

The same was true Wednesday night.   

The Beat (1-6-4) opened the scoring in the 30th minute when Johanna Rasmussen netted her first goal of the season, rebounding off of Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden's clearance. Loyden came out far from her line to make the clearance, and when Rasmussen connected with the ball, the only player standing in the way was Red Stars midfielder Katie Chapman, who could not get a head on the ball before it sailed by her.

The "old" Red Stars would have exhibited an audible deflation of energy after suffering such a blow; but instead, as soon as Atlanta scored, the team seemed to increase focus and intensity, notching up their attack. It only took 12 minutes to even the match.

Ella Masar headed the ball into the cage in the 42nd minute, making her third goal in three games. She is now tied with Cristiane as the club's leading scorer.

Masar has seen more playing time under the new coach. "She's been playing well in practice, getting chances, and now she's been inserted into the starting lineup and has three goals in three games," Namazi said. "We just need more from other people. We need production from [Casey] Nogueira, Kosa [Kosovare Asllani], and from Cristiane. Those are the players we count on scoring game in and game out."

Still, Masar scored a beautiful goal, and the way it developed is a credit to team play. Chicago (3-5-5) has yet to score a direct goal off of a corner kick in the team's history, but the Red Stars capitalized shortly after taking one. Midfielder Karen Carney took the corner kick from the right side in the 42nd minute and found Formiga in the middle of the pitch.

Formiga passed the ball to Cristiane on the left side, and Cristiane headed the ball from the left corner of the box toward the far right post. Masar made a run to the far side and finished off the attack with a header to tie the score at 1-1.

Atlanta has shaped up to become Chicago's nemesis this year. Despite being dead last in the league all season, Atlanta has enjoyed most of their success at the expense of the Red Stars. They won their only game against Chicago-- Chicago's only loss since the coaching change-- and scored their first home goal in the same match.

Last night Chicago out-shot Atlanta, 18 to 6, and had a 9 to 3 edge in shots on goal. Chicago keeper Loyden made two saves for the Red Stars and Hope Solo made nine for the Beat, who now hold a 1-0-2 record against Chicago this season. Against the rest of WPS Atlanta is 0-6-2.

Still, the fact that Atlanta has incorporated the better half of now defunct St. Louis Athletica, including the consensus world's best keeper, Hope Solo, makes the stigma a little easier to bear. In fact, Atlanta's new nickname is "Atlantica." A total of nine former Athletica players were signed as free agents after the season was in progress. Five of them now start for Atlanta.

Chicago had numerous opportunities to score but couldn't find the winning goal. While many shots were just off target, there were also several shots on goal that might have been scores against any other keeper. Solo, who is also the U.S. Women's National Team goalee, made at least three stops that few of her peers would have been able to duplicate.

The Red Stars currently are on a three-game unbeaten stretch and have posted a 2-1-4 record over their past seven games. In other words, they are unbeaten in six of their last seven. After the first of the seven was coached by Club President and General Manager Marcia McDermott (a 1-0 win over the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride), Namazi took the helm.

So for Chicago fans, the question is, how far can this Red Stars team with this coach go? They've tightened their defense and seem to be cured of their choke-from-behind syndrome, but unless they can increase their offensive output, can they make the post-season? If they do, how far can they advance? 

Commenting on the team's chances, Ella Masar said, "The important thing, and what we’re going to take away, is that we're dominating teams. In the game of soccer sometimes it just doesn't go your way. But we have 12 games left, we're putting ourselves closer and closer to the fourth-place seed and we're confident going into this next game on Saturday."

Her coach echoed those sentiments when he said, "We're disappointed for tonight, obviously, but we believe we can beat these teams now. And I feel—and I've said it to the girls—I feel we can outplay any team. It is just a matter of turning those chances into goals. But with practice, with belief, we're going to turn the corner."

A word about attendance: There is some concern that the Red Stars are drawing somewhat smaller crowds on average than last season thus far. We've been comparing their gate with their women's major league counterparts, the Chicago Sky of the WNBA. The Sky's attendance has been flat compared to last year, after moving to a new, larger venue. Be watching for an upcoming article that will explore this comparison in more depth in the next few weeks. Follow this link to our initial pre-season comparison.  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/390277-chicago-major-league-women-fight-for-media-mention-and-fans

Next up for the Red Stars is a 6 p.m. home match on Saturday, July 10, against defending WPS champion Sky Blue FC at Toyota Park.

Chicago Red Stars vs. Atlanta Beat
July 7, 2010 -- Bridgeview, Ill.
Red Stars 1, Beat 1
Beat            1    0    -    0
Red Stars    1    0    -    0
SCORING SUMMARY
1. ATL - Johanna Rasmussen 1 (unassisted), 30; 2. CHI - Ella Masar 3 (Cristiane), 42.
Red Stars: Loyden (GK), Dalmy, Engen, Markgraf, Weber, Formiga, Carney (Asllani, 82), Chapman, Rapinoe, Cristiane (Nogueira, 69), Masar
Beat: Solo (GK), Bishop, Larkin, Robinson, Yamaguchi (Blank, 69), Kerr, Chalupny (Zerboni, 46), Rasmussen, Miyama, Nolin, Aluko (Cinalli, 89)
STATISTICS:
Shots: Red Stars 18, Beat 6
Shots on goal: Red Stars 9, Beat 3
Saves: Red Stars 2, Beat 7
Corner kicks: Red Stars 6, Beat 1
Offsides: Red Stars 3, Beat 3
Fouls: Red Stars 9, Beat 12
Cautions and ejections:
31st minute: Miyama (ATL), yellow card
61st minute: Chapman (CHI), yellow card
90th minute: Cinalli (ATL), yellow card
Referee: Daniel Fitzgerald
Assistant referees: Vicente Cortes, Miguel Panduro Jr.
Fourth official: Stephanie Toth
Attendance: 3,091