Chicago, IL – The Red Stars finish a four-game road trip and look to continue a four-game winning streak when the team faces Sky Blue FC Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET in New Jersey.
The Red Stars (5-2-1, 16pts) have moved back into second place in the NWSL standings when the team earned another three-points on the road against the Houston Dash. Rookie midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo opened the scoring for the match with her first professional goal after an earned penalty kick. Alyssa Mautz provided the game-winning goal and her first of the season in the second half. Jen Hoy scored for the Red Stars in each of the past four-consecutive matches after charging DiBernardo’s free kick with a header in the 3 – 1 victory over the Dash.
Sky Blue FC (2-3-4, 10pts) earned its first road win this past weekend in battle against the Portland Thorns FC. Sky Blue defender Kelley O’Hara scored the only goal of the 1 – 0 victory by heading defender Christie Rampone’s free kick past keeper Nadine Angerer. The win over the Thorns was Sky Blue’s second of the NWSL season. Sky Blue players will wear pink for their return home tomorrow in honor of Paint the Town Pink (PaintTheTownPink.com).
The Red Stars and Sky Blue competed earlier this season on May 7 at Yurcak Stadium where the match ended in a 1-1 tie. Hayley Brock was the lone goal scorer for the Red Stars after the team went down early for a handball that resulted in a Sky Blue penalty kick. It was the first professional goal for the Red Stars rookie.
The Red Stars will be without the services of defender Jackie Santacaterina who suffered an early-match concussion during the Houston match. Also out will be forward Melissa Tancredi who received two yellow cards in Houston, which translated to a red card ejection. She will be sitting her one-game suspension for this match.
Australian international midfielder Emily Van Egmond will be meeting the team in New Jersey, fresh off Australia’s Asian Cup runner-up finish, but will not be available for the match. Red Stars allocated USWNT forward Christen Press recently completed her contract with Swedish side Tyreso FF and is expected to join the team in the coming week.
Red Stars vs. Sky Blue FC kicks off Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET at Rutgers University—Yurcak Field in Piscataway, New Jersey, and will be streamed live for free. Fans can also receive live in-game updates from the Red Stars official game day Twitter: @redstarslive.
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