Red Stars reward record crowd
Naperville native DiBernardo scores in 2-1 win over N Carolina
By Matt Le Cren
BRIDGEVIEW -- The cars still streamed into the parking lot at SeatGeek Stadium 20 minutes after the Chicago Red Stars kicked off against the defending NWSL champion North Carolina Courage on Sunday.
The massive traffic backup was a result of a record 17,388 fans who showed up to watch eight members of the U.S. World Cup championship team play -- four for each team.
It was the largest crowd to see a women’s pro club match in Chicago history and while some of the fans were frustrated about how long it took to get in, all left thrilled after the Red Stars rallied for a crucial 2-1 victory.
The win snapped a three-game home losing streak for the Red Stars (6-5-2, 20 points). The hosts moved into third place, three points behind league-leading Portland (6-2-5, 23 ) and two behind North Carolina (6-3-4, 22).
After Lynn Williams gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, a hometown highlight occured. Naperville native Vanessa DiBernardo got the goal back for Chicago when she snuck behind the defense and slotted home a cross from Arin Wright in the 37th minute.
It was the first goal of the season for DiBernardo, the former Waubonsie Valley High School and Illinois star now in her sixth season with the Red Stars.
“It’s definitely exciting to score in front of such a big fan base,” DiBernardo said. “Every goal you score is special in a different way.
“It was just a great cross by ‘Gilly.’ The whole (defensive line) was stepping up and no one really tracked me. Everyone was paying attention to Sam (Kerr), so it was kind of nice, and I had a tap-in.”
Kerr, the star Australian striker who scored four goals in a World Cup game last month, naturally draws most of the attention and deservedly so. The NWSL’s all-time leading scorer leads the league with 10 goals this season despite missing nearly two months because of World Cup duties.
Kerr’s latest strike proved the difference. She ran onto a long ball from winger Katie Johnson, fooled a defender and scored from 15 yards in the 58th minute.
Thanks to her latest game-winner, Kerr received the Week 14 National Women’s Soccer League Player of the Week honor.
It was Kerr’s fourth Player of the Week Honor in 2019. That made her one of two players in NWSL history to win the award on more than three occasions in a single season and the first since 2015. No player in league history has been named Player of the Week more than Kerr, who took home the award for the 11th time.
Yet it was DiBernardo’s tally that set the tone for the Chicago comeback. It was as unlikely as it was crucial because she was questionable for the game with a hamstring injury.
“We didn’t know Vanessa was going to be able to play until about 10 minutes left in the warmup,” Red Stars coach Rory Dames said. “She’s had a hamstring issue all week, so to have a hometown kid get in and score a goal is huge.
“We had a talk with Vanessa this week about the 10 has got to become a scoring position for her. She’s got to be a little more adventurous in her movements.”
In this case, she was.
“Vanessa made a good late run,” Dames said. “I thought Arin made a good little chip with a lot of quality.
“It brought the stadium to life and was at a crucial time before halftime to get us a little lift and then get the win in the second half.”
While the hype over the returning World Cup champions -- Julie Ertz, Alyssa Naeher, Morgan Brian and Tierna Davidson for the Red Stars and Samantha Mewis, Crystal Dunn, Abby Dahlkemper and Jessica McDonald for the Courage -- was immense and drew the big crowd, local players stepped up to help secure the historic win.
Elk Grove’s Katie Naughton and Sarah Gorden and Naperville native Casey Short all started on the back line. They have been stalwarts all season, as has DiBernardo, who along with Ertz was drafted by the Red Stars in 2014.
“I’m super excited for (DiBernardo),” Ertz said. “(The goal) was huge.
“We came in (to the league) together. We were in the same draft year. So (to see that) day in and day out she puts in so much work, she is so important to our team.
“We want to make sure she’s healthy, but for her to be able to push through it and help us in any way she can, (that shows what) she’s willing to do.”
Short, who is a member of the national team but did not make the World Cup roster, has played with DiBernardo since 2016.
“Being a local kid with her, it was so cool to see her get that moment,” Short said. “I was so happy for her.
“It was a big goal for us, and we needed that.”
Indeed, the Red Stars need every point they can get in a tight playoff race that figures to go down to the final two weeks of the season. Seven of the nine NWSL teams are in the hunt for the four playoff spots.
“If you’re going to win the league you’re going to have to go through North Carolina and you’re probably going to have to go through North Carolina in North Carolina,” said Dames, whose team has made the playoffs four times but has yet to win a semifinal. The Red Stars lost 2-0 to North Carolina in a semi last season.
Dames added: “We seem to do OK against them in the regular season, but we’ve got to figure them out in the postseason.
“That’s why they’re special; because they elevate their game. Alyssa made some huge saves early to keep us in, and then I thought we had a big response to their goal.”
Naeher made two tremendous saves to stop breakaways in the first half and the Red Stars’ offense got better as the game went on.
“I think that we had a really good couple days of practice leading up to this,” Davidson said. “I think that we were really looking to move the ball a little bit and exploit the wide spaces, which I thought we did a pretty good job of. On defense we stayed together and communicated really well.”
Dames and the players credited the crowd for helping them to victory.
“When we went down, it didn’t get quieter. It got louder,” Dames said. “And that’s a huge lift for the players to find a way to get the goal back. Then it definitely carried us through the last 15 minutes.”
Short agreed that players feed off the energy.
“Definitely,” she said. “In the 75th minute when your legs are starting to get tired and you hear the crowd behind you, it’s huge. You want to keep going and play well for the fans and everyone that came out.”
While not the biggest win in franchise history, the result will likely go down as the most memorable due to the opponent and huge crowd. It could be a springboard to future success on the field and at the box office.
“I think this win was very important for us,” DiBernardo said. “We hadn’t won a game at home in a while, and we really had to come out and make a statement.
“Having the girls back from the World Cup makes a huge difference. It just gives us another spark of energy.
“Now the goal is to keep the attendance at that level. With the game we had, hopefully it will keep them coming.”
If the Red Stars can sustain the excitement, it will help not only Chicago but the league in general. While Portland regularly plays in front of sellout throngs, the rest of the league hosts sparse crowds.
North Carolina coach Paul Riley said Sunday’s atmosphere should be the norm, not the exception.
“This is what the NWSL should be every week,” Riley said. “This is what it should be like in Chicago.
“They should be able to do this every week: quality team; quality players; great coach.
“It makes every game so much better to come to when you get 17,000. It’s like a playoff game.
“This is what it’s all about. For our World Cup players to be better for the next World Cup, they need to play in this every week. You can’t play in front of 2,000 people or empty stadiums with bad locker rooms.
“They need to play in front of 17,000 (on the road) and feel the pressure of the crowd and feel the negativity towards them and feel that reckless abandon.”
For Dames, Sunday’s match was a testament to the patience shown by Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler, one of the key figures in the founding and growth of the NWSL.
“I think I’m probably most excited for the Whisler family and the commitment that they’ve made to women’s soccer in the Chicagoland area,” Dames said. “The time and effort and money they’ve put into the game, to finally be able to fill the stadium, it’s super exciting.
“And then for the players. Those are two of the better teams in the world in club soccer going at it and to have a packed house to see it is great.
“Everybody was here to see the World Cup players, but I’m sure there’s some players that they didn’t know about that when they leave, they will be fans of as well.
“The big thing will be can we retain the fans. What do we have to do to keep them coming?
“I can’t emphasis enough what a big difference it makes.”
The Red Stars have seen a post-World Cup attendance boost before, but not nearly on this scale. After the 2015 World Cup, they drew about 3,500 to a game at Benedictine University in Lisle.
Ertz played in that game. It didn’t compare to this one.
“(Today) was the biggest crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Ertz said. “The support today definitely helped and gave us some more motivation to win. That made the win even better.
“It’s huge. This is what we’re trying to do is grow women’s sports, especially here in Chicago.
“It shows us where it could be. We’ve done really well with the national team, and it’s about bringing it back to the NWSL as well.”
The World Cup players have spoken about how they want young girls to be able to dream that they can one day play professional soccer. As the youngest member of the World Cup team, Davidson, 20, was one of those girls watching the 2015 World Cup, so she’s proof that the sport is advancing.
“It was amazing to have all those fans out there,” Davidson said. “I hope they keep coming back, but we were talking before the game about how we need to make sure to defend our home and put on a show if we want people to keep coming back and stay interested.
“So it was really great to have such a buzzing atmosphere.”
Two-time World Cup champions Ertz and Brian are in the middle of their pro careers, but they want the sport to be ready to replace them when they retire.
“We want to make sure that you girls can dream about taking our shoes eventually,” Ertz said. “Today was so cool.”
Naperville native DiBernardo scores in 2-1 win over N Carolina
By Matt Le Cren
BRIDGEVIEW -- The cars still streamed into the parking lot at SeatGeek Stadium 20 minutes after the Chicago Red Stars kicked off against the defending NWSL champion North Carolina Courage on Sunday.
The massive traffic backup was a result of a record 17,388 fans who showed up to watch eight members of the U.S. World Cup championship team play -- four for each team.
It was the largest crowd to see a women’s pro club match in Chicago history and while some of the fans were frustrated about how long it took to get in, all left thrilled after the Red Stars rallied for a crucial 2-1 victory.
The win snapped a three-game home losing streak for the Red Stars (6-5-2, 20 points). The hosts moved into third place, three points behind league-leading Portland (6-2-5, 23 ) and two behind North Carolina (6-3-4, 22).
After Lynn Williams gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, a hometown highlight occured. Naperville native Vanessa DiBernardo got the goal back for Chicago when she snuck behind the defense and slotted home a cross from Arin Wright in the 37th minute.
It was the first goal of the season for DiBernardo, the former Waubonsie Valley High School and Illinois star now in her sixth season with the Red Stars.
“It’s definitely exciting to score in front of such a big fan base,” DiBernardo said. “Every goal you score is special in a different way.
“It was just a great cross by ‘Gilly.’ The whole (defensive line) was stepping up and no one really tracked me. Everyone was paying attention to Sam (Kerr), so it was kind of nice, and I had a tap-in.”
Kerr, the star Australian striker who scored four goals in a World Cup game last month, naturally draws most of the attention and deservedly so. The NWSL’s all-time leading scorer leads the league with 10 goals this season despite missing nearly two months because of World Cup duties.
Kerr’s latest strike proved the difference. She ran onto a long ball from winger Katie Johnson, fooled a defender and scored from 15 yards in the 58th minute.
Thanks to her latest game-winner, Kerr received the Week 14 National Women’s Soccer League Player of the Week honor.
It was Kerr’s fourth Player of the Week Honor in 2019. That made her one of two players in NWSL history to win the award on more than three occasions in a single season and the first since 2015. No player in league history has been named Player of the Week more than Kerr, who took home the award for the 11th time.
Yet it was DiBernardo’s tally that set the tone for the Chicago comeback. It was as unlikely as it was crucial because she was questionable for the game with a hamstring injury.
“We didn’t know Vanessa was going to be able to play until about 10 minutes left in the warmup,” Red Stars coach Rory Dames said. “She’s had a hamstring issue all week, so to have a hometown kid get in and score a goal is huge.
“We had a talk with Vanessa this week about the 10 has got to become a scoring position for her. She’s got to be a little more adventurous in her movements.”
In this case, she was.
“Vanessa made a good late run,” Dames said. “I thought Arin made a good little chip with a lot of quality.
“It brought the stadium to life and was at a crucial time before halftime to get us a little lift and then get the win in the second half.”
While the hype over the returning World Cup champions -- Julie Ertz, Alyssa Naeher, Morgan Brian and Tierna Davidson for the Red Stars and Samantha Mewis, Crystal Dunn, Abby Dahlkemper and Jessica McDonald for the Courage -- was immense and drew the big crowd, local players stepped up to help secure the historic win.
Elk Grove’s Katie Naughton and Sarah Gorden and Naperville native Casey Short all started on the back line. They have been stalwarts all season, as has DiBernardo, who along with Ertz was drafted by the Red Stars in 2014.
“I’m super excited for (DiBernardo),” Ertz said. “(The goal) was huge.
“We came in (to the league) together. We were in the same draft year. So (to see that) day in and day out she puts in so much work, she is so important to our team.
“We want to make sure she’s healthy, but for her to be able to push through it and help us in any way she can, (that shows what) she’s willing to do.”
Short, who is a member of the national team but did not make the World Cup roster, has played with DiBernardo since 2016.
“Being a local kid with her, it was so cool to see her get that moment,” Short said. “I was so happy for her.
“It was a big goal for us, and we needed that.”
Indeed, the Red Stars need every point they can get in a tight playoff race that figures to go down to the final two weeks of the season. Seven of the nine NWSL teams are in the hunt for the four playoff spots.
“If you’re going to win the league you’re going to have to go through North Carolina and you’re probably going to have to go through North Carolina in North Carolina,” said Dames, whose team has made the playoffs four times but has yet to win a semifinal. The Red Stars lost 2-0 to North Carolina in a semi last season.
Dames added: “We seem to do OK against them in the regular season, but we’ve got to figure them out in the postseason.
“That’s why they’re special; because they elevate their game. Alyssa made some huge saves early to keep us in, and then I thought we had a big response to their goal.”
Naeher made two tremendous saves to stop breakaways in the first half and the Red Stars’ offense got better as the game went on.
“I think that we had a really good couple days of practice leading up to this,” Davidson said. “I think that we were really looking to move the ball a little bit and exploit the wide spaces, which I thought we did a pretty good job of. On defense we stayed together and communicated really well.”
Dames and the players credited the crowd for helping them to victory.
“When we went down, it didn’t get quieter. It got louder,” Dames said. “And that’s a huge lift for the players to find a way to get the goal back. Then it definitely carried us through the last 15 minutes.”
Short agreed that players feed off the energy.
“Definitely,” she said. “In the 75th minute when your legs are starting to get tired and you hear the crowd behind you, it’s huge. You want to keep going and play well for the fans and everyone that came out.”
While not the biggest win in franchise history, the result will likely go down as the most memorable due to the opponent and huge crowd. It could be a springboard to future success on the field and at the box office.
“I think this win was very important for us,” DiBernardo said. “We hadn’t won a game at home in a while, and we really had to come out and make a statement.
“Having the girls back from the World Cup makes a huge difference. It just gives us another spark of energy.
“Now the goal is to keep the attendance at that level. With the game we had, hopefully it will keep them coming.”
If the Red Stars can sustain the excitement, it will help not only Chicago but the league in general. While Portland regularly plays in front of sellout throngs, the rest of the league hosts sparse crowds.
North Carolina coach Paul Riley said Sunday’s atmosphere should be the norm, not the exception.
“This is what the NWSL should be every week,” Riley said. “This is what it should be like in Chicago.
“They should be able to do this every week: quality team; quality players; great coach.
“It makes every game so much better to come to when you get 17,000. It’s like a playoff game.
“This is what it’s all about. For our World Cup players to be better for the next World Cup, they need to play in this every week. You can’t play in front of 2,000 people or empty stadiums with bad locker rooms.
“They need to play in front of 17,000 (on the road) and feel the pressure of the crowd and feel the negativity towards them and feel that reckless abandon.”
For Dames, Sunday’s match was a testament to the patience shown by Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler, one of the key figures in the founding and growth of the NWSL.
“I think I’m probably most excited for the Whisler family and the commitment that they’ve made to women’s soccer in the Chicagoland area,” Dames said. “The time and effort and money they’ve put into the game, to finally be able to fill the stadium, it’s super exciting.
“And then for the players. Those are two of the better teams in the world in club soccer going at it and to have a packed house to see it is great.
“Everybody was here to see the World Cup players, but I’m sure there’s some players that they didn’t know about that when they leave, they will be fans of as well.
“The big thing will be can we retain the fans. What do we have to do to keep them coming?
“I can’t emphasis enough what a big difference it makes.”
The Red Stars have seen a post-World Cup attendance boost before, but not nearly on this scale. After the 2015 World Cup, they drew about 3,500 to a game at Benedictine University in Lisle.
Ertz played in that game. It didn’t compare to this one.
“(Today) was the biggest crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Ertz said. “The support today definitely helped and gave us some more motivation to win. That made the win even better.
“It’s huge. This is what we’re trying to do is grow women’s sports, especially here in Chicago.
“It shows us where it could be. We’ve done really well with the national team, and it’s about bringing it back to the NWSL as well.”
The World Cup players have spoken about how they want young girls to be able to dream that they can one day play professional soccer. As the youngest member of the World Cup team, Davidson, 20, was one of those girls watching the 2015 World Cup, so she’s proof that the sport is advancing.
“It was amazing to have all those fans out there,” Davidson said. “I hope they keep coming back, but we were talking before the game about how we need to make sure to defend our home and put on a show if we want people to keep coming back and stay interested.
“So it was really great to have such a buzzing atmosphere.”
Two-time World Cup champions Ertz and Brian are in the middle of their pro careers, but they want the sport to be ready to replace them when they retire.
“We want to make sure that you girls can dream about taking our shoes eventually,” Ertz said. “Today was so cool.”