Chicago Red Stars 1, Sky Blue FC 1: First Thoughts

Chicago Red Stars 1 Huerta 1’

Sky Blue FC 1 McCaskill 78’

• Lineups are here!
• Pregame thought 1: The lineup might change as Sam Johnson may have gotten hurt in warm-ups.
• Pregame thought 2: Beyond that, three changes from Wednesday night’s win over Houston. Yuki, Vasconcelos, and Mautz back in the team, while Comeau, Green, and Kaskie are on the bench. Short bench, too. Only 16 players dressed.
• Pregame thought 3: I think we’ll probably be okay, but I won’t be too surprised to see us drop points.
• Pregame thought 4: So Sam Johnson was indeed scratched. Taylor Comeau gets the start instead.
• Let’s goooooooooooooooooooooooo
• 1’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL HOLY SHIT SOFIA HUERTA HIT A SHROSS AND IT FLEW INTO THE NET HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT CHI 1-0 SBFC
• 5’ Some more stuff has happened but I haven’t really been paying attention. Holy shit, that goal. The Scam is Afoot, my friends.
• 9’ Man, Sky Blue look pitiful tonight. Like, they clearly rebuilt the team around Carli Lloyd and she’s just... no.
• 13’ SBFC lead a quick counterattack, Groom lays the ball off to Beckie who puts the ball in the back of the net. But the offside flag is up, so, no goal.
• 17’ Huerta goes for her second goal but her shot is saved.
• 19’ Gilliland tries her luck now but no dice.
• 24’ lol carli pls
• 26’ Arin Gilliland is HANGRY for a goal.
• 29’ SB gets a free kick, Carli takes it, boots it south of I-80.
• 31’ Yuki heads it toward goal, hits the crossbar, ends up needing a minute to recover after colliding with Sheridan.

• 36’ Huerta goes down in the box, no call. <shrug emoji>
• 39’ Beckie gets a good look at goal but her shot goes waaaay over the bar.
• 42’ Commentators try to give Chicago Local 134 a shout-out, botches the name. Womp womp.
• 44’ Sheridan makes a mistake and opens the door for Vasconcelos, but the Red Stars forward can’t capitalize.
• Halftime! CHI 1-0 SBFC
• Halftime thought 1: If Huerta didn’t get that goal I’d probably feel a little down on this first half. The energy was there but the focus was lacking. As it is, the Red Stars head into the tunnel with a 1-0 lead. I’m down with this.
• Halftime thought 2: So the teams are pretty split on both possession and pass accuracy, but the Red Stars have 5 SOGs (7 shots total) while Sky Blue have just 1 (5 total).
• Second half is underway!
• 46’ And already Naeher has to leap into action to save a shot by Carli. Oh boy.
• 48’ Yuki gets the Red Stars’ first chance of the second half, sending a shot from the top of the box wide of the post.
• 52’ Groom tries to play Beckie in on goal but it doesn’t work out. Still 1-0 but I don’t think it’ll stay this way for long.
• 56’ Chicago looks gassed. I don’t know how they’re going to get through the rest of the half.
• 58’ Groom almost able to make something happen. Ugh, that equalizer is coming, I know it.
• 59’ Hahaha and then IMMEDIATELY Huerta cracks a shot off that just misses. Oh man.
• 62’ Ohhhhhh boy, Carli almost got the goal. Yikes.
• 67’ Yuki with another header that just misses.
• 69’ Stanton goes for it now, forcing a save and winning a corner (which comes to naught).
• 74’ Huerta knocking on the door again. Hey, maybe we’ll just score a second and win this thing!
• 78’ GOAL Nope. McCaskill hits a shot, it deflects off of Comeau and it sails past Naeher. CHI 1-1 SBFC
• 80’ Like I’m not surprised, but... ugh.
• 82’ Vasconcelos clocks out, replaced by Green.
• 84’ Comeau gets pulled down in the box, ref doesn’t call a penalty, SB hits a counterattack but Naeher breaks it up before a shot materializes.
• 90’ Kaskie checks in for Colaprico. Two minutes of stoppage time.
• Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Final score: CHI 1-1 SBFC
• Final Whistle Thought: Tonight, the scammers become the scammed.

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.