Chicago Red Stars vs Washington Spirit: Week 6 Preview
It’s a battle of the overly-dressed coaches as the Washington Spirit and their Sunday Best arrive in Bridgeview to face off against the Chicago Red Stars, wearing a hoodie in 90 degree weather. But that’s where the fun ends. As established this entire season, every single team in the National Women’s Soccer League is capable of beating any other team. This super-parity will be incredibly important this week with the Red Stars attempting to keep a hold of their status as a top-tier team. Let’s see who will be there.
With an international break in between their previous games, both the Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit will be bringing back some players that could be tired after international play. But the good news for the Red Stars is that Bianca St Georges received an appearance in Canada’s match against the Czech Republic, suggesting a return to the pitch for Chicago soon.
Here’s three things to look out for in the coming game:
When the Call Comes
There’s a lot of speculation around the upcoming US Women’s National Team Olympic roster. As someone who focuses on the Chicago Red Stars, I try to avoid any speculation around the USWNT. But when it does involve a Red Stars player, I can’t not talk about it. Mallory Pugh has been in the form of her life early in this season as she’s returned from yet another injury. If she stays healthy, could Pugh be in USWNT coach Vlatko Andanovich’s plans?
As I said, I’m not going to speculate on the USWNT; but for the Red Stars, losing Pugh would be a major blow. Kealia Watt has shown that she’s not quite able to take on the weight of the team on her own and there’s not really any other player who’s proven to be capable of creating chances. So going into the coming few games, it’ll be interesting to not only see how Pugh’s performances develop, but also how other players will show how they could handle yet another absence in the lineup.
The Cooler Rodman
Most Chicago sports fans would not associate the name “Rodman” with skilled dribbling and passing technique. But that’s because they’re only familiar with former Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman. His daughter, Trinity Rodman, has proven recently that she’s not only worthy to stand on her own, but might even be better at her sport than he was at his. Rodman has put on highlight after highlight on the ball for the Washington Spirit, but unfortunately only has a single assist to show for it in the regular season.
Rodman should be expected to start against the Red Stars and a defense that has had trouble in one-on-one situations recently. Rodman is only one piece of a solid attack that includes Ashley Hatch and Ashley Sanchez, but with her specific skills Rodman could be very likely to score in the city her father was known for.
Always Waiting
With Racing Louisville confirming the signing of Nadia Nadim earlier this week, it’s back to the drawing board for Chicago Red Stars fans speculating on who the big mystery signing is for the season. While the team has been scoring at a solid pace, there’s been plenty of evidence that there are a lot of chances that have been wasted. The team’s xG compared to actual goals is abysmal, which could either be taken as a sign of how unlucky the team is or as a sign of how poor the team is at finishing.
So fans continue to wait for the promised European signing until it happens. There is some hope for a different signing. Other NWSL teams have been bringing up their draft picks from college, due to the nature of last season’s draft. With the NCAA season over, it’s time to look at who can come around and the Red Stars did have the foresight to draft two solid strikers. With the 7th overall pick, they took Madison Haley out of Stanford, who picked up 11 goals and 14 assists in 2019 from 23 appearances. But more interesting is the second round pick Kelsey Turnbow, who helped lead Santa Clara to the National Championship final earlier this year, picking up 10 goals and 4 assists on 12 appearances. Either of these two could make a difference for Chicago right now, but at the moment there doesn’t appear to be any movement on this front.
Projected XI
Chicago Red Stars (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Casey Krueger, Sarah Gorden, Tierna Davidson, Arin Wright; Morgan Gautrat, Vanessa DiBernardo, Danielle Colaprico; Rachel Hill, Kealia Watt, Mallory Pugh
Washington Spirit (4-2-3-1): Aubrey Bledsoe; Tori Huster, Emily Sonnet, Sam Staab, Kelley O’Hara; Andi Sullivan, Jordan DiBiasi; Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, Tara McKeown; Ashley Hatch
How To Watch
Saturday, June 19th, 7:00 PM CDT; At SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL, online on Twitch