Chicago Scores Three Goals to Secure the Win Against Reign FC 

 CHICAGO – The Red Stars were able to grab their first win and three points of the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League season with a 3-0 win over Reign FC. Casey Short opened the scoring with a perfect chip over Reign goalkeeper Lydia Williams’ head. Yuki Nagasato would double Chicago’s lead with a long-range strike, and Brooke Elby would seal the win in the 90th minute with her first career NWSL goal.  

Key Moments

5’ Bethany Balcer fires a shot that tests Alyssa Naeher, but the Chicago goalkeeper gets a great jump on the ball to tip it over the net for the save. 

13’ Short receives a ball from Nagasato near the 18-yard box, and the defender chips the ball over Lydia Williams for a sublime goal to give Chicago the lead. The goal marked Short’s first goal of 2019. 

43’ Sam Kerr breaks away down the field and splits two Reign defenders and fires a rocket towards Lydia Williams, but the Australian keeper is able to come up with a big save. 

53’ Kerr makes a break towards the goal, but Williams manages to knock the ball out of the striker’s path and into the waiting feet of Nagasato, who fires a long-range shot over the keeper’s head and into the back of the net to extend Chicago’s lead. The goal follows her performance last weekend that saw her score a brace against Portland Thorns FC.  

59’ Jodie Taylor flies down the right side and sends in a cross to the feet of Shea Groom, but Naeher manages to clear the shot with a punch. Taylor collects the ball and chips it over the Chicago keeper’s head, but Katie Naughton manages to maneuver the ball safely into the Chicago keeper’s hands with some help from the crossbar. 

79’ Danielle Colaprico lays a perfect dead ball pass to the feet Naughton who chips the ball towards the net, but Williams dives into the path at the last second to make the save. 

89’ Michele Vasconcelos slots a ball to Brooke Elby who scores her first NWSL goal sending the ball past the Reign keeper into the back post with her first touch of the game. 

Player of the Match, presented by Magellan

Yuki Nagasato lit up the stats with securing one goal and one assist in the Red Stars win over Reign FC and was awarded the Magellan Player of the Match. The Japanese international played all 90 minutes of the match and has now scored or assisted in every game for Chicago

Next Game 

The Red Stars will travel to Rio Tinto Stadium to take on the Utah Royals. Kickoff is scheduled for Friday, May 3 at 8:30 pm C.T. 

Chicago Red Stars vs Reign FC April 28, 2019 – SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, IL) 

Goals by Half                        1      2      F 

Chicago Red Stars                 1   2      3          

Reign FC                               0    0      0           

Scoring Summary:  

CHI Casey Short (13’) (asst. Yuki Nagasato) 

CHI Yuki Nagasato (53’) (unassisted) 

CHI Brooke Elby (90’) (asst. Michele Vasconcelos) 

Misconduct Summary: 

CHI – Yellow Card: Ertz (68’) 

Lineups  

CHI – GK Alyssa Naeher, Casey Short, Katie Naughton, Sarah Gorden (Vasconcelos ‘73), Tierna Davidson, Julie Ertz ©, Danielle Colaprico, Morgan Brian (Dibernardo ‘61), Yuki Nagasato, Katie Johnson (Elby 89’), Sam Kerr 

 RFC – GK Lydia Williams, Celia Jimenez Delgado, Lauren Barnes ©, Megan Oyster, (Nielsen ‘69)  Kristen McNabb, Allie Long, Beverly Yanez (Kellond- Knight 69’), Rumi Utsugi, Shea Groom, Bethany Balcer, Jodie Taylor (Johnson ‘69) 

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.