Photo: Len Cederholm
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Racing Louisville charged out of the gate while the Red Stars seemed ten lengths behind all night as the latter lost 2-0 in this NWSL Challenge Cup tilt. Racing top Group B with two wins while the Red Stars bring up the rear with two losses.
The first half was almost all Racing who spent virtually all the time in the Red Stars’ half of the pitch. Their pressure was ultimately rewarded in the 44th minute following a takeaway from Jaelin Howell which led to Paige Monaghan feeding Uchenna Kanu for the opening score.
The Red Stars showed some signs of life in the second half, but the attack was mostly lacking and Racing doubled their lead off a free kick in the 71st minute. Savannah DeMelo’s free kick was met by Parker Goins who sent a looping header just beyond the reach of Alyssa Naeher.
The only positive for the Red Stars was the return of Kayla Sharples who missed most of 2022 with an injury.
For Red Stars coach Chris Petrucelli, his team spent most of the match on the back foot and that his team needs to have more confidence with the ball.
“It was typical of what we’ve seen over the last few weeks,” said Petrucelli. “We barely connected a pass in the first half. We passed it more to Alyssa [Naeher] than to anybody else. When we did [connect a pass]it was backwards.
“We’ve got to get better at it. We’re not built to be a team that can just kick it and run after it. And even if we tried, I don’t believe it would work that well for us. We have to be able to put some things together and we have not been able to do that.”
The Red Stars return to league play on Monday at Angel City FC. Kickoff is at 9pm CT on Paramount+.
Len Cederholm filled in for Leslie Smith on Wednesday night. For more of his photos, please click on the link.
SCORING SUMMARY:
LOU-Uchenna Kanu (Monaghan) 44
LOU-Parker Goins (DeMelo) 71
BOOKING SUMMARY:
LOU-Rebecca Holloway (caution, tactical foul) 32
LOU-Uchenna Kanu (caution, tactical foul) 62
CHI-Cari Roccaro (caution, tactical foul) 70
CHI-Bianca St. Georges (caution, reckless tackle) 78
CHICAGO RED STARS (4-2-3-1): #1-Alyssa Naeher; #31-Amanda Kowalski (#22-Bianca St. Georges 46), #23-Tatumn Milazzo, #12-Tierna Davidson (#28-Kayla Sharples 74), #2-Sam Fisher; #16-Sophie Jones (#5-Julia Bianchi 46), #4-Cari Roccaro; #32-Taylor Malham, #14-Jill Aguilera, #8-Ella Stevens (#25-Ava Cook 60); #24-Jenna Bike (#20-Cheyna Matthews 60)
Subs not used: #21-Emily Boyd, #13-Addie McCain, #7-Yuki Nagasato, #18-Sandra Starke
RACING LOUISVILLE (4-2-3-1): #1-Katie Lund; #2-Lauren Milliet, #4-Elli Pikkujamsa, #20-Abby Erceg, #25-Rebecca Holloway; #8-Ary Borges (#7-Savannah DeMelo 63), #6-Jaelin Howell (#16-Carson Pickett 46); #19-Jordan Baggett, #27-Alex Chidac (#9-Kayla Fisher 88), #5-Paige Monaghan (#11-Thembi Kgatlana 46); #29-Uchenna Kanu (#21-Parker Goins 63)
Subs not used: #99-Olivia Sekany, #44-Satara Murray, #77-Shuang Wang, #3-Zaneta Wyne
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 7-17 LOU
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 1-4 LOU
FOULS: CHI 11-15 LOU
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-2 LOU
CORNER KICKS: CHI 1-4 LOU
SAVES: CHI 2-1 LOU
Referee: Laura Rodriguez
Referee’s Assistants: Noah Kenyawani, Sarah Gaddes
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Jon Freemon
AVAR: Kaili Terry
Weather: Partly Sunny and 83º
Woman of the Match: Jaelin Howell (LOU)
