The Chicago Red Stars will hit the road again where they will face the Boston Breakers on Friday. This will be their third game away on their two week stretch of away games.

The Red Stars are coming off a 1-0 victory against the Orlando Pride. Casey Short subbed into the game and won a penalty, which Red Stars captain Christen Press converted. The match also saw the return of Midfielder Danielle Colaprico after she suffered an ankle sprain against Sky Blue FC back in week 10. She had an excellent stoppage time goalline save off a set piece to preserve the 3 points on the road.

Boston are coming off a win of their own, getting a victory at home against Washington Spirit. The Breakers have been dealing with some injuries to key players in number 1 draft pick Rose Lavelle, and their starting goalkeeper Abby Smith. The Breakers eventually settled into their game in the second half, and the game winning goal came from rookie Midge Purce.

Where We Last Saw Them

Back in May, the Breakers visited Toyota Park and looked to end the Red Stars undefeated streak. While large parts of the match saw both teams struggle to adjust to their games, much of the match was fueled by Rose Lavelle. The rookie managed to score Boston’s only goal on her birthday, only to be over shadowed by an equalizer from a Christen Press header.

Starting Lineup We’d Like To See

Coach Rory Dames continued the road trip with some squad rotation in Orlando with Casey Short and Arin Gilliland coming off the bench. Will we see that this week in Boston? Will Colaprico play holding mid again this season? We wouldn’t mind seeing that again.

Keys To The Match

Start quick, finish strong

Boston has shown a tendency to start off their games a bit slow. The Red Stars will want to try and capitalize quickly on a team that has been struggling as of late. Continuing their high press should allow them to keep Boston on their heels as the midfield continues to struggle without the creativity and pitch awareness of Rose Lavelle.

Coach to Coach

Not guilty of their own slow starts in matches; last time against Boston, the Red Stars seemed to struggle to get into their game. In post game statements made to media, Rory Dames commented that he was out coached by Boston’s Matt Beard. Granted the Red Stars have improved a bit as a team since May, so we will see if Dames will be quick to make adjustments if need be.

Mas golazos, por favor

While this season the Red Stars are a team that have multiple players on the score sheet this year, Chicago has netted 1 goal a game in 4 of their last 5 matches. While May games against the North Carolina Courage saw the Red Stars put up 6 goals in two matches, the scoring has cooled off a bit since then. While one goal is all it takes sometimes, on paper, it’s not crazy to imagine a higher seeded team could get more than one goal against a lower seeded team.

How to watch

Kickoff: Friday, July 7, 7:00pm EDT/6:00pm CDT, Jordan Field (Boston, MA)

Stream: go90

Final Thoughts

Will the Red Stars get another road win against Boston? Who do you think will be an impact player in the match? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!