With defending champs in way, Red Stars seek 1st title
The Chicago Red Stars will be playing in their first National Women’s Soccer League championship game Sunday when they take on the North Carolina Courage.
The final — which will be played at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. — will be broadcast on ESPN at 2:30 p.m.
The Red Stars are coming off a 1-0 win against the Portland Thorns in the semifinals at SeatGeek Stadium last weekend, their first victory against the Thorns since 2013. The Courage, the defending NWSL champions, scored three goals in extra time to beat Reign FC 4-1.
Here are three things to know about Sunday’s final.
1. The 2 best teams in the NWSL are battling for the title.
The Red Stars feature the league’s most prolific striker in Sam Kerr, who won her third straight Golden Boot as the top scorer with 18 goals. Former Japanese international Yuki Nagasato led the NWSL with eight assists, while midfielder/defender Julie Ertz and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher help anchor the team’s spine.
Meanwhile, the Courage won their third straight NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record. They finished 15-5-4 for 49 points, five more than the second-place Red Stars (14-8-2).
“They can beat you a lot of different ways,” Naeher said. “They have a very talented team, a lot of phenomenal attacking players. If you shut down one, they’ve got a next-man-up kind of mentality.”
The Courage, who scored an NWSLhigh 54 goals while conceding a leaguelow 23, boast World Cup veterans Crystal Dunn, Samantha Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper and Jessica McDonald, among others, plus Lynn Williams and Kristen Hamilton, who combined to score 21 goals this season.
Red Stars coach Rory Dames said his team is wary of the threat the Courage pose.
“You have to be able to run with them; they’re very good in transition,” he told the Tribune. “You have to be able to keep them in front of you; they’re very deliberate up front. You have to be able to limit their service because their wide players deliver great balls and are great in the box, and they’re really hard to solve when you have possession. We’ll simplify like we always do against them.” 2. The Red Stars are good, but they don’t buy the Courage’s claim of being underdogs.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary — three straight NWSL final appearances, three straight NWSL Shields, a stacked roster and home-field advantage — Courage coach Paul Riley told reporters his team is the underdog. Seriously. Playing the underdog card is nothing new for Riley, who has used it as a motivating tactic the last few seasons.
In fairness, the Red Stars played the Courage well this season, going 2-0-1, including a 2-1 win in front of 17,388 at SeatGeek Stadium in July. The draw came in the season opener at Sahlen’s Stadium, where the Courage have lost just once in the last two seasons.
Even so, the Courage as underdogs? The Red Stars aren’t buying it.
“I don’t think we get too caught up with the narratives,” Dames said. “We didn’t get caught up with the ‘semifinal curse’ and the ‘Portland curse’ and all the stuff that was going on before that game. Do I think we’re the underdogs? No. Do I think we’re the favorites? No. I think we’re going in as is to do the best we can to win the game.
“But if you want something for the narrative, you’d be hard-pressed to convince anybody that’s reasonable that the team that’s won the last three Shields, won the last championship and who’s playing on their home field in the championship game is the underdog.”
3. Sam Kerr can cap a record-setting season with a trophy.
Kerr’s goal-scoring prowess is unmatched in NWSL, leading the league in each of the last three seasons with a combined 51 goals. Her 18 goals this season broke a record held by — wait for it — Sam Kerr.
Even more impressive: She scored 18 in just 21 matches, her NWSL season shortened because she captained Australia in the World Cup. And it was Kerr’s early goal against the Thorns last weekend that sent the Red Stars to the final.
Sunday’s final is an opportunity for Kerr to add an NWSL title to her individual accolades — and it could be her final match with the Red Stars, with European clubs reportedly interested in signing the star striker to a deal worth as much as $1 million.
Kerr said her singular focus is on winning the NWSL final, and whether that comes with her scoring a goal is irrelevant.
“The main thing on the weekend is that we just win. It doesn’t matter how we do it.”