Chicago Red Stars 3, Houston Dash 0: First Thoughts

Chicago Red Stars 3 Mewis (OG) 7’, Kaskie 11’, Huerta 75’

Houston Dash 0

• Lineups are here!
• Pregame thought 1: So first things first, if you’re at Toyota Park tonight PLEASE stay warm. The weather is going to be rough. Bring blankets, get some hot cocoa, seek shelter if you need to, just do whatever you need to do to stay safe and warm.
• Pregame thought 2: With that out of the way... Gorden gets a start and Gilliland is up to again. I’m into it, although it can definitely be weirder.
• Pregame thought 3: Dang, those new black kits look sweet.
• Let’s goooooooooooooooooooooooo
• 5’ Little bit of “halfback passes to center” going on here. It’ll probably take a bit for this game to get going.
• 7’ GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL HAHAHAHA NEVERMIND!!!! GORDEN CROSSED FROM THE LEFT AND MEWIS PUT IT IN HER OWN NET! CHI 1-0 HOU
• 8’ Hahahahahahahaha I love it
• 9’ Gilliland fouls Shim, gets a yellow card.
• 10’ Hey remember when people were saying Houston’s defense was strong and organized? Fun times.
• 11’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL KASKIE SLIPS IT UNDER CAMPBELL TO DOUBLE THE LEAD!!!! CHI 2-0 HOU
• 12’ For those keeping track at home, this is Lauren Kaskie’s first ever NWSL goal. And only her fourth start in the league.
• 15’ As Claire noted in our Super Secret Soccer Slack: “The cat burglars in black are here to play.” #ScamGang
• 18’ Things have settled down a bit now. Which is fair enough. All Chicago has to do now is not make a bunch of stupid mistakes. They can even make one! Just not more than one.
• 23’ Hmm, Kgatlana wins the ball back in Chicago’s defensive third and hits a shot at the near post. Naeher has to act quickly to push it out into touch. This isn’t a good sign.
• 24’ The corner comes to nothing. Nothing!
• 29’ Houston have at least found their footing, but aren’t demonstrating much in the way of attacking threat. I’d imagine one more goal would probably put the game away.
• 33’ The Dash may not be defending well at the moment but their forward line is still pretty strong. That the Red Stars are managing to keep them contained is worth some praise.
• 36’ Our friends at Windy City Soccer/Prost Amerika report a steady mist at Toyota Park. It’s not quite showing up on camera but I’d imagine it must be a real pain to play in.
• 40’ A few minutes of pressure by Chicago ends with Kaskie cracking off a shot inside the box. Campbell has to dive to save it and concedes a corner.
• 41’ Colaprico takes the corner and.... nope, not this time.
• 42’ Chicago’s been really good on fighting for possession and forcing turnovers. I like this. More, please.
• 44’ Mewis tries to make amends for the OG with a cracking shot, forcing Naeher to save.
• 45’ Keever gets a yellow for a foul on Comeau. One minute of stoppage time.
• Halftime! CHI 2-0 HOU
• Halftime thought 1: Really good half from Chicago. Just need one more goal and then we can see this out.
• Halftime thought 2: The Red Stars have a 67-33 lead in possession and their pass accuracy is 83%. So, yeah, we’re bossing this thing right now.
• Second half is underway!
• 46’ No substitutions at the half for Chicago, Houston swap Keever for Agnew.
• 47’ Ooof, already Houston force Naeher to make a save. Keep it together, y’all.
• 53’ Jordan gets a cross past Naeher and across the face of goal. Thankfully there’s no Houston players on the other end to convert. Still, yikes.
• 56’ Some sustained pressure from Houston, a corner kick, and it ends with a shot from Motlhalo that’s just over the crossbar.
• 58’ Kaskie clocks out for the night, replaced by Mautz.
• 60’ Chicago looks like they’ve moved to a 5-woman backline, with Green as the lone forward. Scam some goals and lock it all down, that’s how we’re going to win this season.
• 61’ Ooooooh Mautz and Colaprico almost combined for another goal but just didn’t work out. Houston sparks an immediate counterattack but it also doesn’t go anywhere.
• 63’ Green and Van Wyk ran into each other and stayed down for a minute or so. Play stopped to give them a breather.
• 68’ I truly cannot imagine having to play in this weather.
• 73’ Hooooooooooo boy, Huerta hits a scorcher and Campbell only barely saves it. If only!
• 74’ Yuki comes in for Green.
• 75’ GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL HUERTA DOESN’T MISS THAT TIME!!! WHAT A HEADER!!!! CHI 3-0 HOU
• 76’ I want to say Chicago has this put away but Houston just led a quick attack after the restart and forced a save by Naeher. Keep it steady guys, you’ve got this.
• 81’ Huerta goes for another one, forcing Campbell to come up big.
• 85’ Despite the more defensive shape, the Red Stars are gunning for that fourth goal. Loving this.
• 90’ Two minutes of stoppage time. We got this.
• Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Final Score: CHI 3-0 HOU
• Final Whistle Thought: Man, this felt great!

Stay tuned for more postgame coverage and a full recap here on Hot Time In Old Town. In the meantime, join the conversation in the comments or on social media.