Tag: chicago red stars

women's soccer

Spirit-Red Stars: A mad night at the SoccerPlex

Posted on by Beau Dure

There’s just a lot of anger in the world right now.

Our president took a break from Twitter ranting to issue the most controversial presidential pardon since Gerald Ford fell on his sword for Richard Nixon, paving the way for a peanut farmer from Georgia to become president and then a truly outstanding ex-president. North Korea, apparently angry about being pushed off the front page by U.S. domestic shenanigans and a hurricane (and a preposterous fight), flung a few more missiles into the sea, which raises the question of how many North Koreans live in dangerous poverty while Kim Jong Un bombs the whales.

And in the ever-argumentative women’s soccer community, Backline Soccer had to deal with online threats after some woker-than-thou “fantasy” writer discovered an old op-ed about Jaelene Hinkle and deemed the entire staff homophobic, which would come as a great surprise to those who know the staff. (Should someone tell him about Orson Scott Card, who actually does work to deny gay rights and about whom he has said nothing on his site?)

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So given all that, perhaps it’s little surprise that the Spirit-Red Stars game, which Chicago desperately needed to halt a skid out of the playoff positions, was a little on the aggressive side. The Red Stars, bringing a talented team against a makeshift Spirit backline, finished the first half with 11 fouls and one shot on goal. (Yes, one. Opta gave Washington keeper DiDi Haracic credit for a save when she pounced on a loose ball in a scramble.)

From the pressbox, it all seemed a little cynical. Time after time, a Chicago player would extend the arms on a shove while the ball was in the air, then turn to the ref in disbelief when the whistle blew.

But most of the physical play was rough but legal. The ref, like nearly every other ref we’ve seen in the NWSL this season, could’ve given out more yellow cards, but give him credit for calling the fouls.

And it worked. The Spirit players were rattled. Tori Huster, the Spirit’s most-fouled player, had a bad giveaway or two after hearing nearby footsteps from Julie Ertz or Kristie Mewis or Danielle Colaprico or anyone else who had knocked her around in the game. (The pressbox consensus seems to be that at least one foul attributed to Mewis actually belonged to Ertz.) Huster participated in a team-high 18 “duels” and only won six of them, a very un-Huster-like performance.

The Red Stars’ goals were the result of good old-fashioned hustle, with Colaprico keeping a ball alive to set up the recently traded Mewis for a goal against her old team and Christen Press finally beating the Spirit’s high line before rounding the keeper. But they were finished well. Things didn’t work for Mewis in Washington for whatever reason, but she can play.

It was a strange night in general. The medical crew carrying injured Spirit forward Arielle Ship off the field took the long way around and was nearly hit by a ball going out of play. (At least Ship was able to go past the Spirit Squadron, which roared for her and got a thumbs-up from the weeping Ship.) The fourth official decided it was cold (a surprise to the announcers who said it was hot and humid) and donned a black long-sleeve top, blending in with the game staff at the middle of the field.

Chicago coach Rory Dames started the postgame inquiries by repeating the first question he was asked.

“Thoughts on the game — it was pretty ugly at times,” Dames said with the expression of a dog that expected a piece of chicken but got tofu. “I would say that with the way they play — they’re very direct out of their end, and they try to get up into your end and press you, and they try to combine with their front players in your end. So there was no reason for us to try to play through their pressure, and nobody the last five games has tried to play through our pressure, so it was always going to be a first-ball, second-ball, ball winning-contest kind of game.”

He didn’t seem too frustrated with the Red Stars’ losing streak heading into the game. Neither did Ertz.

“I don’t think it was necessarily wrought-out frustrations in there,” Ertz said. “We really wanted to win, we really wanted three points. I think everyone does, but especially for us, the points these last few games really do matter for going to the playoffs or not. We wanted to make sure we won our tackles — first ball, second ball, that was a big thing for us — and when that’s your main focus, I think it does become a more aggressive game.”

And yes, the points matter more for Chicago at this point than they do for the Spirit, which was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention but was never really in it this season. In the long run, the Spirit would be better off losing and improving their draft position to make sure they get hometown hero Andi Sullivan, though possible league expansion could throw a wrinkle in that. My guess is that the Spirit will package the pick it received for Mewis with another pick and maybe a player to make sure Sullivan is at the SoccerPlex next season. Let’s be clear — they’re not tanking. They were pushing hard until the last second, spurred by Mallory Pugh, who grew into the game and played some actual soccer amidst the rugby/Aussie rules contest occupying much of the field.

Let’s also be fair to the Red Stars, always a class organization. They figured a choppy game would suit them and they’d be able to go Route 1 to Christen Press at some point. A better team than the Spirit would’ve punished them. A better ref would’ve showed some cards and put a stop to the midfield shenanigans.

Fans got their money’s worth. The weather was nice. The Spirit Squadron was in fine voice. The concession lines seemed to move at a decent speed. And Pugh and Press showed their national-team skills in flashes. They’ll see better games at some point.

The strange, surly night had a perfect capper. Throughout the week, Twitter was been abuzz with the possibility of Stephanie Labbe’s dog, Rio, going out on the field for National Dog Day. I was hoping to meet Rio because I’m a little silly about dogs. One thing I love about my house and my neighborhood is that I can sit in my living room or my bedroom and see dogs walking down the sidewalks. At my elementary school, I earned the nickname “The Dog Whisperer” when I wrangled a dog out of traffic, and all the dogs that turn out at departure time love me.

I met Rio on the way to the postgame interviews. He growled and barked at me. Before you think it’s just me, he did the same to Kevin Parker, one of the nicest guys on the planet.

So, yeah. It was that kind of night. It’s been that kind of week.

Here’s to a better month in September.

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soccer

Washington Spirit … playoff-bound?

Posted on by Beau Dure

For the most startling comment in the wake of Washington’s last-minute winner over Chicago on a pleasant Saturday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex, let’s check in with Chicago coach Rory Dames on how the loss affected the Red Stars’ playoff chances:

“I don’t think (losing) changes a lot for us, to be honest. Winning obviously would’ve helped. But we’re two points back from Portland.

“We always thought the race was going to be with Portland. I don’t think we really ever thought we were in a race with Washington.”

Whoa.

The standings would’ve said otherwise before tonight’s game. A Chicago win would’ve vaulted the Red Stars into a tie for third with Washington. The Spirit would still own the head-to-head tiebreaker, having already beaten Chicago twice, but the Red Stars would have a game in hand. And the Red Stars have three games at home, while the Spirit must travel to first-place Seattle and return home to face nemesis Sky Blue.

And yet, here was Dames after the game, saying they were just competing for the fourth playoff spot with the star-studded Portland Thorns, not the defending wooden-spoon holders from Washington. In fact, Dames and Red Stars all-everything Lori Chalupny were in surprisingly good moods considering what had just happened.

In case you missed it, here’s what had just happened:

4th minute: After missing a good early chance, the Spirit gave up a truly awful opening goal. Tori Huster gave up the ball to Christen Press at midfield, and the Red Stars forward went streaking down the middle. Spirit left back Alex Singer was caught upfield, and Press played the ball into that space for Melissa Tancredi. The Spirit center backs rolled to their left, and Tancredi crossed it back for Lori Chalupny. The should-be national team midfielder didn’t make great contact with her one-timer from the top of the box, but Ashlyn Harris was uncharacteristically slow in getting across. 1-0 Red Stars.

28th and 31st minutes: The Red Stars didn’t necessarily have the better of possession in the first half, but they created the best chances, particularly off Spirit misplays. In the 28th minute, Press again picked the ball away from a Spirit defender (Niki Cross), this time going one-on-one with Harris, who made the big stop. (Dames thought Cross might have held Press back and deserved a yellow; not sure I see it on replay. Meanwhile, the Red Stars were undoing themselves with some silly, nasty challenges, earning yellow cards for Jen Hoy and Jackie Santacaterina.)

Press again had an opportunity as the Red Stars, wisely, went Route 1 with a ball up the middle. Press raced past the defense, but Harris was out in her keeper-sweeper role to clean up. That would be the best Chicago opportunity for some time, while the Spirit started to come back, with Kerstin Garefrekes’ 39th-minute shot cleared away by Abby Erceg.

48th minute: This time, the Red Stars gave up the soft early goal. Christine Nairn has scored some beautiful long-range goals, but this one was a slow grounder that somehow wrong-footed Karina LeBlanc.

89th minute: The Spirit had the better of play in the second half, outshooting Chicago 12-4 while Harris only made one save. But what a save it was. Adriana Leon tapped the ball for Melissa Tancredi, who rushed past Ali Krieger with the ball and crossed for Christen Press, who had found space in the box. Tancredi’s cross was perfect. Press’ header was perfect. But Harris, racing to her left, leaped to knock it away.

94th minute: The ball was surely rolling out. There was no way Diana Matheson would be able to chase it down on the sideline, right? Even if she caught it, how could she keep it in? She slid and hooked a foot onto the ball to play it along the line, then hopped up to chase it down. She played it back for Lisa De Vanna, who held the ball with the poise of a veteran. Finally, De Vanna played it left for Yael Averbuch, who struck it first-time with her left. The other two goals in this game looked a little clumsy. This one was brilliant.

Dames knew the last two big Spirit plays were the sort of thing you could only applaud. “An unbelievable save,” he said of Harris’ 89th-minute leap. Then Matheson saving the ball to set up the goal — “There’s maybe three players in the league who have that thought process and that quality.” And then Averbuch.

Chalupny simply smiled. “The Spirit, they just never quit. Credit to them, they’re a great team.”

Why has Washington managed to sweep the season series with this solid Chicago team? “If we had an easy answer to that, we would’ve figured it all out by now,” Chalupny said with a little laugh. “They’re strong top-to-bottom, and they have some real game-changers and some players who can strike from distance.”

Yet it’s a Spirit team that seems to thrive when its back is against the wall. Porous starts turn to powerful finishes. Harris shrugged off the early goal for a couple of vital saves, including one that frankly deserves some time on SportsCenter. Spirit coach Mark Parsons singled out Tori Huster, who had a bad touch leading to the Chicago goal, as a disruptive presence in defensive midfield. The versatile Huster also had a key clearance late in the game. Lisa De Vanna had squandered a couple of opportunities but came through with a bit of brilliance at the end.

Then there’s Averbuch, who has slid from national team player on the rise to a substitute for the Spirit. In an instant, the low-scoring midfielder (one goal in WPS, she said, and now one goal in the NWSL) found the confidence to rip a goal past a good keeper in LeBlanc, just after passing up a similar opportunity.

“I was angry at Yaya just before that because she passed to someone out wide,” Parsons said. “So I’m so glad she decided to strike.”

And she clearly surprised herself.

“I was just really focused with getting it on frame,” Averbuch said. “So when I got it on frame, I was already happy with the fact that it was going on the goal, maybe get a rebound for someone else to score.”

That’s the second time this season the Spirit have won a home game with a laser in stoppage time. Christine Nairn did it to Houston in May with a goal of the year contender. In the game before that, Matheson’s stoppage-time penalty kick gave the Spirit a 3-3 draw with Sky Blue. In July, yet another Matheson stoppage-time PK salvaged a 3-3 draw with Boston after the Breakers led 3-1.

Other late goals: A 79th-minute goal from Jodie Taylor, who missed Saturday night’s game on national team duty, to win the June 4 game at Chicago that clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Other comebacks: Down 2-1 at halftime before beating Western New York 3-2. Down 2-1 at Boston, won 3-2. Down 1-0 at halftime to Portland, drew 1-1. Down 1-0 at halftime to Kansas City, won 2-1.

“We’ve been a second-half team, for sure, for at least the second half of the season,” Matheson said. “We make games interesting, which is good for the fans.”

(Here comes the call-out …)

“Hopefully we can get some more fans out. I don’t know why we have less fans than last year. So if you could tell the fans that came out last year that aren’t coming out this year to come back out. We miss them. We’re playing exciting soccer.”

No doubt about that. And if Dames is to be believed, the Spirit will be extending that exciting soccer into the playoffs this year.

Circumstances could prove Dames wrong. But so far, the only wrong is … me. When it became apparent a couple of months ago that four teams would be battling for the last two NWSL playoff spots, I figured they would go to Portland and Western New York. That’s mathematically impossible. The Flash can’t catch the Spirit, so there’s no way the Flash and Portland can get in.

This Spirit team is still a strange one. They never control a game from start to finish, something you’d expect a third-place team in a nine-team league to do every once in a while. But their game-changing ability has earned a lot of respect around the league. And maybe it’ll earn them another week of soccer in late August.

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soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Chicago: Clock strikes 12

Posted on by Beau Dure

For 77 minutes, the Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars played an entertaining soccer game. Both teams were seriously short-handed, as they had been too often through this season. But they stuck it out and put together some decent chances.

Then the evening took a supernatural turn, like the end of L.A. Story, when the weather suddenly changes so Victoria Tennant can’t fly away from Steve Martin. (You’d never guess from that clip, but it’s actually a funny film.)

It had been a typical first half from the Spirit on the team’s good days. Maybe a little better. Washington outshot Chicago in the first half and had the best couple of chances, including one that was cleared off the line after Diana Matheson, Erin McLeod and a defender awkwardly converged in the box. (I’m told by people who had a better view than the pressbox/broadcast camera that Matheson was not fouled.)

Spirit coach Mark Parsons: “The first half, I feel they got a couple of clear-cut opportunities but we created a lot more. That might be the first half that we got more shots than the opposition for a long time.”

At halftime, the fans were treated to an impromptu juggling and passing exhibition by four tired Spirit national team players who didn’t start — Conny Pohlers, Ashlyn Harris, Lori Lindsey and Ali Krieger.

But Krieger would play a vital role in the second half. The Spirit started on the back foot, with backup keeper Chantel Jones racing out to collect at the feet of Adriana Leon. Krieger came in at midfield and picked up the team’s confidence.

Parsons: “The scariest moment was coming out for the second half for the first 5-10 minutes. I looked at Lloyd (Yaxley, the goalkeeping coach) and thought, ‘There’s only one thing that will help swing momentum, and it’s not a tactical or technical thing. It’s just a psychological thing.’ And that’s when we brought Krieger on. Everyone (on the Spirit) was kind of panicking and shaking a little bit, they see her come on, and everyone settled.”

Then came the first supernatural event. The Spirit scored. From the run of play.

And it was Lupita Worbis, the allocated Mexican player who arrived a few weeks into the season and has bounced in and out of the lineup, who created and finished the play. She won the ball in midfield, spun 360 degrees, knocked the ball left to Diana Matheson and ran on to Matheson’s textbook one-touch return pass. Then she put it through McLeod’s legs and in. All in front of her parents, who are visiting from Mexico.

As if commenting on the improbability of what had just happened, the skies opened up 10 minutes later, with heavy rain sending shrieks through the crowd. That’s Supernatural Event #2. For five minutes and change, the game was played in a downpour. Somewhere in the rain, Chicago substitute Maribel Dominguez somehow found the speed in her 34-year-old legs to race past Kika Toulouse and Tori Huster, but Jones easily collected her cross.

The rain stopped abruptly. But a couple minutes later, the Maryland SoccerPlex’s WeatherBug Lightning Detection System sprang into action. Clear the field. As if to verify the automated sensors, some dazzling lightning lit up the sky while we sat in the pressbox. Supernatural Event #3.

The next 105 minutes have been temporarily erased from my memory. I’ll somehow piece it back together when the time comes to write the book. I know at some point fans were heading back into the SoccerPlex, only for the alarm to go off again.

Then we heard this:

  • When there has been no lightning strike within ten (10) miles for a continuous 15 minute period, the horns will blast three (3) times, each blast is five (5) seconds

But apparently not this:

  • You may return to the field after the three (3) shorter blasts have sounded

Apparently, it had something to do with the likelihood of more lightning in the next couple of minutes. It’s safe to say people were a little confused. A few minutes later, with little fanfare, teams just returned to the field and started warming up.

Sometime during the break, the Spirit apparently had a dance-off, with Toni Pressley taking a narrow victory over Lori Lindsey. The Red Stars, surely aware by then that other results across the NWSL meant they needed a win to maintain their slim playoff hopes, may have been a bit more nervous. Also, the Spirit encouraged me, Kevin Parker and Jennifer Gordon — most of the local media press corps in the absence of a local newspaper recently sold to Jeff Bezos — to get up to the roof and do a media roundtable with Spirit announcer Michael Minnich.

After a warmup period and the return of maybe 250 of the 2,000-plus fans in attendance (sadly, all the food vendors packed up and fled early in the storm), play resumed a little at 10:48 p.m. And Chicago resumed a bit better than Washington. Jen Hoy eluded Toulouse and crossed to Dominguez, who was wide open in the box but put her one-touch attempt well over.

(Have allocated Mexican players ever accounted for all the goals in a multi-goal NWSL game? Maybe before Cuellar was traded from KC?)

Then came Supernatural Event #4. The MSPWBLDS (we’ll call it “mospwuhbleds”) sounded again. 10:52 p.m.

Players, coaches and refs froze. No lightning was visible. The Red Stars seemed displeased, and honestly, the Spirit didn’t seem any happier. Everyone wanted to play.

But you do not argue with the MSPWBLDS. The field was cleared again. And, in fairness, lightning did indeed resume a couple of minutes later.

(At this point, feel free to check out the game highlights, which are excellent:

By this time, the stadium’s midnight curfew was looming. Various deals were struck with the referees and the league to let the teams warm up in the SoccerPlex’s big gym, which was fortunately NOT hosting a basketball or volleyball tournament at the time. They did have a couple of hoops down around 7-8 feet for young summer campers, and I’m told Ella Masar dunked.

I’ll go ahead and give the details (at least as I know them) now rather than waiting for the book.

A few fans were in the SoccerPlex building, and it occurred to the media quadrumvirate that we could go in there as well. Mark Parsons actually asked me the Chelsea-Real Madrid score. He was disappointed in that.

I ventured over to the SoccerPlex’s front desk. A couple of Spirit staffers had gathered there along with SoccerPlex staffers who were monitoring the weather system. That’s when I was able to confirm the info in this tweet, and I ran back to the pressbox to hack it out:

By those terms, one lightning strike after 11:30 would end it. But in reality, it dragged on a bit longer.

At 11:40ish, there was a gathering in the SoccerPlex behind the bleachers, next to the locker rooms. The crowd included a ref (on the phone), at least one policeman, various staff from each team, and stadium staff.

At 11:42, a couple of people in CSC event staff shirts nodded and walked away from the meeting. They called out to other people — “(the game) will not resume.”

And still the refs were talking.

So I can’t give you a final moment at which the game officials declared the game — and the Red Stars’ playoff hopes — done. I can only tell you the teams held out hope as long as humanly possible.

Most Spirit players were in the hallway, not in the locker room. But there was no moment of celebration. One by one, they filed out (as did several Red Stars in one of many classy gestures as all this unfolded) to meet fans and sign autographs. I wished I could have rushed out to see that scene, but I stayed in to get various comments, many of which the Spirit posted to the team’s site.

Parsons was the first to dissect the game. He thought the Spirit had the better of play before the delay, and McLeod said pretty much the same thing. He thought Chicago wouldn’t have come back if the game had continued with no delay. We can’t say that with certainty — the Red Stars certainly have a flair for drama — but it’s safe to say the delay helped the Red Stars regroup and reorient.

The end didn’t completely suit anyone. Parsons said his first emotion upon hearing the game was over was “gutted” — he wanted to finish it out and hear the final whistle, no matter how small the crowd had gotten at that point. But then he went back and got his team to celebrate in the locker room.

“After all the things that have gone against us, maybe it was meant to be.”

Chicago may be the only team in the league unluckier than the Spirit. Their U.S. allocations were injured (or, in a move that looks a bit more curious in hindsight, traded for next year). Then injuries rattled the rest of the team, including one of the league’s best midfield engineers in Lori Chalupny. And then they had to sit and watch their playoff hopes, faint as they were, tick away without even being able to fight on the field.

At that point, though, nothing would have been a satisfactory ending. A 10-minute resumption at 11:50 p.m. would practically been a new game, bordering on farce. Imagine if you were a Sky Blue fan and you saw the Red Stars get two goals against a Spirit team that didn’t come back strong after nearly three hours idling in the SoccerPlex.

When I left, the stadium clock was frozen at 80:04, as if the game had been played at Pompeii. Appropriate for a game that entered into the supernatural.

In the end, I don’t think we saw an unjust ending. The better team on the night won. But if the mythical force of soccer karma has repaid part of its debt to Washington, it now owes Chicago — a class organization — that much more.

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soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Chicago: Spirit willing, flesh weak

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s getting difficult to write about the Washington Spirit. The options are:

(A) Piling on to a team that’s obviously in an epic slump.

(B) Appearing to be in denial.

Not that it really matters what we the punditocracy think. What matters is what the team thinks. And if you’re a Spirit fan looking for a ray of hope that the team can at least finish strong, it’s this: I sense that the team buys into the notion of a “fresh start” and believes in the direction Mark Parsons is leading it. Ashlyn Harris spoke with the media tonight and buried nothing but this game, saying she’s done with it and ready to move on to the televised game in Seattle.

Tonight isn’t a night to make excuses. In New Jersey over the weekend, the Spirit deserved a result. Not tonight. Yes, the Red Stars’ second goal was a fluke that may have been offside, and yes, the Spirit could’ve earned a PK late. But the ref was erratic, not biased — I couldn’t believe some of the grappling holds the ref allowed Spirit midfielders to use. The Spirit may not have deserved to lose 2-0, but 1-0 would’ve been more than fair. The only team that could feel robbed tonight was the Spirit Reserves, which had 30-plus shots to Fredericksburg’s three but still tied 1-1, which means they’ll have to play their conference playoff in Virginia Beach against the ultraphysical Piranhas.

(Not that “soccer karma” exists. Ashlyn Harris making a tremendous save on a dubious PK call may have been poetic justice, but not soccer karma. That’s a rant for another day, though.)

This wasn’t the Spirit’s night. The positives were Candace Chapman’s steady climb back to her 2010-11 form and a few good stretches of possession. They were often one good pass or one good shot away from a goal or really good chance. But those final touches weren’t there. Diana Matheson hasn’t regained her early-season explosiveness. Conny Pohlers is still slightly off.  As Parsons put it, the last two teams the Spirit played never had them on their heels, but Chicago did.

So what was this “ray of hope” I mentioned? Why is Harris so willing to forget this game so quickly? Why do I get the sense the team is buying into its new direction?

Back up to the Spirit’s draw with Kansas City. Parsons said everyone understood it would take a couple of games to get going with the team’s fresh start, and points in that stretch would be “a bonus.”

It’s not just going to take a couple of games. It’s going to take a few practices. And with five games in 2 1/2 weeks, they’re not getting any practices.

I have to admit it didn’t hit me until I spoke with Parsons after the game. I asked if through balls and finishing were next on the training agenda. He ran through the schedule for the rest of the week: Recovery, flight to Seattle, etc.

The schedule isn’t just exhausting the team. It’s giving them no time to adapt to their new system and their new players. Stephanie Ochs talked a bit after the game about how the attackers still aren’t quite in sync. Fix that, and you fix a lot of problems.

In the last few games, the Spirit has played pretty well for 60 minutes but can’t convert, and the defense eventually gives way. If they can take a lead, the game will look a lot different.

Might help if they could catch a break or two. But again, soccer karma doesn’t exist.

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Game report: Freedom 0, Red Stars 0 (updates with quotes)

Posted on by Beau Dure

BOYDS, Md. — Though they were playing at home, the Washington Freedom may consider themselves lucky to have escaped with a 0-0 draw Sunday against fellow playoff bubble team Chicago.

Despite the oppressive heat — 96 degrees by one check at kickoff — the Red Stars came out running, with a direct approach that kept the Freedom on their heels much of the game. The stats told the story — Chicago outshot Washington 23-5, putting 11 shots on goal to Washington’s 3.

“We knew early on that it was going to be hot this week, so we wanted the ball to do the work,” Freedom forward Abby Wambach said. “But to be quite honest, I felt like they had the ball the whole game. There’s probably 10 different reasons why that’s the case, but the fact is it’s no fun to play when the other team has the ball and you’re defending the whole game.”

Chicago co-captain Kate Markgraf says the tactics were a departure for a team that’s normally possession-oriented.

“The way D.C. plays, sometimes that’s the only option,” Markgraf said. “They clog the center so much.”

Coach Omid Namazi felt the Red Stars were ready to turn up the heat.

“We’ve been working a lot on our fitness,” Namazi said. “We’ve also been working on the speed of our play. We still lack that finishing touch.”

Chicago had a lively start with Marian Dalmy’s long ball to Megan Rapinoe, who shot high. Washington countered with a more patient but equally effective buildup, with a series of passes down the right springing Lene Mykjaland against keeper Jillian Loyden, who was alert to the danger.

They traded chances again before the 15-minute mark, with Dalmy again sending a long ball to Ella Masar and a Freedom free kick causing chaos in the Chicago box.

Cristiane looked dangerous on the left flank for Chicago with good footwork and speed, setting up Masar for a terrific chance from 12 yards, but the shot sailed high.

The game slowed for the next 15 minutes, though Chicago continued to bypass the midfield in its buildup. Dalmy drilled a 30-yard free kick on frame for Erin McLeod to punch over, and the ensuing corner yielded another shot, a Cristiane header easily collected.

Within two minutes, Masar was again on the receiving end of a long ball, with McLeod just getting enough of the ball to keep out of danger.

The Freedom finally got another chance on a 42nd-minute free kick that Sonia Bompastor cheekily sent toward the near post while most traffic went far. Mykjaland couldn’t get a clear shot.

Early in the second half, McLeod again had to be alert on a long ball to Masar, coming up to challenge just in time.

The Red Stars’ direct danger continued in the 65th, with a through ball that put Cristiane a step ahead of the defense. But her touch failed her ever so slightly, and Nikki Marshall broke up the play with a well-timed slide.

The substitution patterns seemed backward, with the Freedom taking out attacking players at home. At halftime, midfielder Beverly Goebel replaced the ever-dangerous Bompastor.

“She physically just couldn’t do what she normally could do,” Freedom coach Jim Gabarra said in a postgame interview on the Soccerplex PA system. “She was in the All-Star Game a couple of days ago. Prior to that, she’s been fatigued with all the play.”

In the 70th, defender Kristi Eveland replaced forward Lene Mykjaland, though the Freedom pushed converted forward Marshall from the backline up alongside Abby Wambach.

“It was pretty unexpected,” Marshall said. “I had played a little bit of forward the last couple of weeks in practice. But he just kind of threw me up there to see what would happen. I’m excited — I hope I get to play more up there. I think I could have done a little bit more — I’m not pleased with my performance completely, but I only got 15 minutes up there.”

The Red Stars kept pressing, bringing in forwards Casey Nogueira and Kosovare Asllani to replace starting attackers Masar and Rapinoe.

But the Freedom started to get chances, earning a free kick that Cat Whitehill ripped just wide. Then Marshall sprang free on the left, only to be see the danger cut out by a speedy recovery from ageless captain Kate Markgraf.

Whitehill, Markgraf’s frequent national team line-mate, made an uncharacteristic misplay of the ball in her own box in the 80th. Chicago centered to the top of the box for Karen Carney, whose shot produced McLeod’s toughest save of the afternoon.

“Our theme this week was about having each other’s back,” McLeod said. “Cat played a tremendous 89 minutes and 45 seconds, and she had that one lapse. We have to be there for those mistakes, and we were.”

The Red Stars’ efforts deserved a goal, and it nearly came in the 85th minute. Asllani played a through ball to fellow sub Nogueira, splitting the defense. McLeod came out to challenge at the top of the box, getting there just as Nogueira shot. The ball trickled just wide of the goal.

“That was a relief, especially the timing of the game,” McLeod said. “We played Philly and lost in the last few minutes of the game.”

McLeod wasn’t surprised, though, to race off her line a few times.

“Cat Whitehill does a tremendous job of keeping a high line,” McLeod said. “When the defense keeps a high line, you have to ready to come out. Cat was yelling at me a couple of times to get my ass out, and I did.”

The defensive end wasn’t really the Freedom’s problem, anyway.

“I’m as frustrated as I’ve ever been today,” Wambach said. “I just can’t find the ball. I had one good chance and didn’t do my best with it.”

Chicago could be pleased with the road draw if not for the fact that they’re still three points behind the Freedom in the race for the fourth playoff spot.

“We have to get points, though,” Markgraf said. “We’re not in the playoffs right now.”

“These are opportunities we’ve got to start taking,” Namazi said.

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