Chicago in the sky blue shirts,Sky Blue in orange!!On a rain soaked night at Toyota Park in front of over 5,800 enthusiastic fans despite the weather, both teams battled to a nil draw.Lindsey Tarpley had a strong chance for her third goal in as many games in stoppage time following the second half. Karen Carney played a shot from the right side of the box to Tarpley, who made a strong chance but put it right at Sky Blue FC goalkeeper Jenni Branam.
The shot was one of 18 Chicago recorded, but the Red Stars only put four on goal. One came on a spectacular bicycle kick attempt from midfielder Megan Rapinoe in the 38th minute. After Sky Blue FC starting goalkeeper Karen Bardsley made an initial stop on a shot by midfielder Carli Lloyd, the ball ricocheted to Rapinoe at the top of the box. She played it beautifully on the bicycle attempt but Bardsley was able to recover in time to parry it over the net.
Sky Blue FC had one of the game’s best scoring chances early on. Midfielder Collette McCallum made a run up the right side, crossing to Sarah Walsh on the left edge of the box. As Red Stars keeper Caroline Jönsson came out to challenge the play, Walsh got a shot off that hit just off the cross bar and out of play.Jönsson put forth another solid effort in net, stopping all three of Sky Blue FC’s shots on goal to record her second clean sheet of the season. Bardsley and Branam combined for six saves for the visitors, who were outshot 18-7 in the contest. Ifeoma Dieke again was composed and a rock in the Chicago defence without Captain Frida Ostberg. Dieke earned rave reviews from the FSC commentators.
SKY BLUE FC COACH IAN SAWYERS
“The game was a pretty exciting for a 0-0 tie, at least from our perspective, with some end to end opportunities. Obviously we felt like we could have put a few away and I’m sure they feel the same way. Coming away with an away point is ok, we haven’t quite got there yet. We’re moderately happy but still proud to be part of a great day here in Chicago.”RED STARS COACH EMMA HAYES“Our game plan was to use as much width as we can. We’ve been struggling of late to create opportunities out wide. I thought we did a great job of that. The girls executed the game plan and the performance was considerably better than the last two games.”
LINEUPS:
CHI: Jönsson, Dalmy, Dieke, Igwe, Krzysik, Klein (Oakes, 76), Rapinoe, Lloyd, Carney, Cristiane (Masar, 63’), Tarpley
SKY BLUE FC: Bardsley (Branam, 46), Asante, Schnur, Dowling, Sitch, Buczkowski, Parker (Kai, 62), McCallum (Averbuch, 83), White, Walsh, O’Reilly
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