It took about a year and a half, but the Chicago Red Stars are finally looking comfortable again. While not a dominating win, a 3-1 victory over the Washington Spirit gives some level of confidence that maybe the Red Stars are still a good soccer team. Here’s how it happened.
The first half was a bit quiet in general, especially for the Chicago Red Stars. The Washington Spirit actually had more of the advantage, with a chance early on in the 8th minute as a scramble in the box somehow only ended up with a shot going wide of the post. But, despite the direction of the flow of the game, it was Chicago who began striking. In the 19th minute, Mallory Pugh collected a loose ball in the midfield, drove all the way into the box, and sent it home off the far post for the first goal. Then, in the 39th minute, Rachel Hill continues her outstanding record on the season of just standing on the line to see an awkwardly bouncing ball on a corner home, helping send a rebound from Tatumn Milazzo past the line for the second goal.
Chicago began to fully take control in the second half, with chances in the 67th and 69th minutes that came excruciating close for that third goal. But, it was Washington who struck first in the half. Trinity Rodman took advantage of a bad touch from Sarah Gorden in the 71st minute, swiping the ball and blasting past not only Gorden, but Cassie Miller. While there were some defenders catching up to her, Rodman was able to easily cut around them and dump the ball into the empty net. Only two minutes later, Ashley Sanchez took a curler from just inside the corner of the box, but that one was saved by Miller. It would be a handball in the box from Washington that led to Morgan Gautrat’s penalty to make it 3-1 in the 80th minute. Despite a Sarah Woldmoe shot from way downtown in the 86th minute to make it 4, the score would remain 3-1 for Chicago.
Here are three things to take from the game.
“Boring 3-0 Victories”
Something that’s been missing for Chicago Red Stars fans recently has been the simple comfort of a “boring 3-0 victory”. There was a long stretch through the 2018 and 2019 seasons where the actual happenings of the game weren’t really important and the exact nature of the game didn’t really say anything interesting. It was just a 3-0 win for Chicago and we’d just go home to wait for the next one.
It’s been an incredibly long time since I felt that vibe from a game and while this isn’t an exact replication of those days, it was nice to see something close to it. Were there issues? Yes, and I’ll get into those. But was it game that ever felt out of Chicago’s control? Not really. Things were fairly quiet and it’s been a long time since I could say that.
Rodman
Trinity Rodman is a star player in the NWSL. That’s the quote, that’s the take. Rodman has shown highlight after highlight on the ball and with another goal in this one, she’s got 4 on the season. For some reason, the seemingly dominant Washington Spirit attack didn’t all show up in this one. Ashley Hatch was left mostly silent and while Ashley Sanchez had a couple of good moments, it was Rodman who was involved in the attack the most.
Rodman’s only real blemish in the game was the struggle to beat Sarah Gorden to the ball. There’s obviously still things she needs to work on for her game and that is specifically the thing that Gorden’s really good at. But once Rodman is on the ball, everyone else on the Spirit is more dangerous for it. Her vision and acceleration to recognize Gorden’s mistake was what got her that goal and she should be recognized for her work at the end of this season.
The Chicago Red Stars do not play another regular season game against the Washington Spirit this season, so I’ll take this opportunity now a little halfway through to say that Trinity Rodman is an absolute favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Things Still Need Improvement
After a solid, comfortable win, what do the Chicago Red Stars need to work on? Well, the defense is still really concerning. The midfield has been solid all season, as expected, and the offense seems to finally be waking up, but the defense is all off right now. This can be a product of all of their national team players being defenders, but if that’s the problem then there needs to be questions asked about the Red Stars’ depth.
Time after time this season, we’ve seen Sarah Gorden get increasingly inconsistent throughout games. One moment she’s closing out Rodman, the other she’s coughing up the ball to Rodman. And Tatumn Milazzo on the other side of that line is really showing her inexperience with poor positioning and vision. There’s a lot to still work on for this team, but at least there’s hope that it’ll be cleaned up within a month.