Mallory Pugh scored her fourth goal of the year in the Red Stars 1-0 win over OL Reign on Saturday in Bridgeview. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Pro Soccer Report: Pugh continues hot run, helps Red Stars top OL Reign
By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer
Despite missing the first two games of the season, Chicago Red Stars standout Mallory Pugh entered this week’s action in a three-way tie for second in goals scored in the NWSL.
Pugh scored her fourth goal of the season to help the Red Stars (3-1-2) beat OL Reign, 1-0, in front of an announced crowd of 3,002 fans on June 4 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Rookie Samantha Fisher provided the assist.
Pugh was tied with Houston’s Rachel Daley and Nichelle Prince, and Washington’s Ashley Hatch entering this week.
All three were well behind San Diego’s Alex Morgan, who leads the league with eight.
The other three players in the top four have each logged more than 500 minutes this season while Pugh has just 247.
Tied up in Washington
In the first rematch of the NWSL championship, Chicago and Washington tied 1-1 on June 1 in Leesburg, Virginia.
Ella Stevens of the Red Stars had a header in the ninth minute sail through the net, but in the 85th minute, Sam Staab had a header off a set-piece. Giving up set-piece goals has been a problem for the Red Stars.
“The game shouldn’t have gotten to point,” coach Chris Petrucelli said. “We had a couple of chances and should have scored three or four more goals. “It’s frustrating to put ourselves into a position to win but not be able to take care of set-piece details.”
Testing team depth
The Red Stars are in the middle of a five-game-in-16-days stretch and Petrucelli is stretching his roster to try to keep players fresh.
Against Washington, 14 players were used, while 16 Red Stars played against the Reign.
“During this stretch, we’re going to use everyone,” veteran Vanessa DiBernardo said. “It was good to see in the first half how many chances we were able to get. If we put a few away, the result would have been different.”
Defense cleans the sheet
Goalie Alyssa Naeher, defender and Orland Park native Tatumn Mizazzo, and defenders Zoe Morse and Kayla Sharples are the only players to start six matches for Chicago, and helped the team to its first shutout of the season on June 4.
The Red Stars allowed just five shots and just one shot on goal against OL Reign (2-2-3).
Chicago’s Sarah Luebbert (right) and OL Reign defender Lauran Barnes collide Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Luebbert returns
Sarah Luebbert, who played five games for the Red Stars in 2020 and was on loan to a team in Mexico in 2021, returned for the Washington game and entered in the second half.
“She wasn’t clear to play until an hour before the game,” Petrucelli said. “We were scrambling like crazy to get her cleared. That’s difficult for a player. You don’t know if you’re playing.
“We told her to go in and press. She is extremely athletic, and she can put people under pressure so I thought she did well for her first time in.”
Coming up
The Red Stars were slated for a match with Washington Wednesday at SeatGeek Stadium. That was a rescheduled match from May 7, which was postponed because of the overlap from the exhibition Challenge Cup.
The Red Stars are also slated to host Orlando at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
League leaders beat Fire II
The Chicago Fire II dropped a 4-2 decision to MSL NEXT Pro Eastern Conference-leading Columbus Crew 2 on Saturday night at SeatGeek Stadium.
Alex Monis and Josh Penn each scored first-half goals for the Fire (2-5-3, 10 points), which couldn’t score in the closing half and gave up four goals to Columbus (8-2-0, 24 points) after the 46-minute mark.
“Tough result,” Fire II coach Ludovic Taillandier said. “The contrast between the two halves … if I were staying positive I would speak about the first one saying we started the game the right way.”
Penn leads the team with four goals.
“He’s looked great for a while now,” Taillendier said. “He’s a good forward. He’s doing great right now and is an important player for the team on both sides of the ball.”
The Fire II returns to Bridgeview for a 7 p.m. game against St. Louis.
Red Stars goalie Alyssa Naeher falls after deflecting a shot in a 1-0 win over OL Reign on June 4. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Local News
Planned park in Palos Heights will have Olympic theme
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva The Misty Meadows subdivision in Palos Heights is getting a new park and it will be partially funded by a pair of famous local athletes. Plus, it will have an ice rink and an Olympic theme. NFL player Michael Schofield and his Olympic hockey gold- and silver-medal-winning wife, Kendall Coyne…
Cook County Animal and Rabies Control offers pet safety tips
Spread the loveParts of Cook County could see up to 12 inches of snow over the next day as a winter storm moves across the area starting tonight. Cold weather creates hazardous conditions for residents and their pets. The Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control reminds residents to take special precautions to keep…
Winter storm could bring heavy snowfall
Spread the loveParts of Cook County could see up to 12 inches of snow over the next day as a winter storm moves across the area starting tonight. The county’s Department of Transportation and Highways is monitoring conditions and has resources on standby to keep the 1,500 lane miles the county maintains, safe for drivers.…
Polk insists residents should use 9-1-1 when they need help
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva With snowstorms and bad weather hitting the area, first responders and 9-1-1 operators are taxed and stretched out. But Palos Park Police Commissioner Dan Polk said that should not deter people from calling 9-1-1. He insists on it. At the Jan. 24 village council meeting, Polk made a passionate speech…
District 230 waits for judge’s decision on mask mandates
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Stagg and Sandburg students, parents and teachers are awaiting the decision of a Sangamon County judge to find out if there is any change in the mask mandate. District 230 was one of 145 districts in the state taken to court by parents who are against the mandate and believe…
Summit approves deal with CEDA for water assistance
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Help may be on the way for some Summit residents that have trouble paying their water bills. The Summit Village Board recently approved an ordinance authorizing an agreement by, and between the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County. It’s a vendor agreement for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance…
Willow Springs hires Grace as village administrator
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Citing his experience in Lyons, Willow Springs Mayor Melissa Neddermeyer said Ryan Grace was the best of five finalists interviewed for the job of village administrator. Grace, 38, had been public works director in Lyons the past four years, working on a wide range of village issues and events in…
Body of missing Forest View woman found
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan The search for 20-year-old Charisma Ehresman of Forest View is over. The body of the young woman was found Friday evening in her vehicle in Chicago’s South Austin neighborhood, on the city’s west side, which borders Oak Park. The car had apparently been there for several days. The Cook County…
Heritage Middle School cheer team takes first
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Congratulations are in order for the Heritage Middle School Cheer Team. The team competed for the first time on Saturday, January 15, at Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont and took first place. It was a huge accomplishment for the team and Summit School District 104 is very proud of…
Neighbors
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of a would-be union representing staffers in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office filed suit against their boss on Friday, asking a Cook County judge to force recognition of the union. The Illinois Legislative Staff Association, which formed in the fall of 2022, claims Welch’s…
Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…
Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Jimmy Soto spent more than 42 years wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. In 2020, he was moved to the “F-House” at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a condemned unit, not because he was being punished, but because it was where the facility was housing individuals…
Judge blocks law that would have banned newly slated candidates from ballot
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A Sangamon County judge on Wednesday blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot. The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety,…
“No Schoolers”: How Illinois’ hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & MOLLY PARKER CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS investigations@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. It was on L.J.’s 11th birthday, in December 2022, that child welfare workers finally took him away. They arrived at his central Illinois home to investigate an abuse allegation and decided…
Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget
By ANDREW ADAMS JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed the state’s $53.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history. The signing caps months of work – and tension – among top Democratic leaders in Springfield and within the…
Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move
By ALEX ABBEDUTO, COLE LONGCOR & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com A bill eliminating the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities failed to pass the General Assembly ahead of its May adjournment, although sponsors say they hope to pass it when lawmakers return in the fall. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938…