Area Sports Roundup | Call of Duty: Six Red Stars tabbed for national teams

By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent

Time will tell what kind of product the Chicago Red Stars will put on the field in 2024.

The team is coming off a last-place finish in the NWSL, and there has been a revolving door of players and coaches this offseason.

One positive for the team is that it has six players on the rosters who are deemed worthy of playing on international teams this winter. Jill Aguilera, Julia Bianchi, Sam Fisher, Natalia Kuikka, Alyssa Naeher and Mallory Swanson have been called up to represent their respective countries during the recent FIFA international window.

Naeher and Swanson joined the United States Women’s National Team, while Bianchi joined Brazil, Kuikka joined Finland, Aguilera joined Puerto Rico and Fisher joined El Salvador.

One negative for new Stars coach Lorne Donaldson is that those six stars will be missing preseason practice time, which will be tough when it comes to assessing the talent and figuring out team chemistry.

But that’s a price that needs to be paid for having quality talent on the roster.

A look at who has gone and to where:

• Swanson earned her first call-up since the April 2023 international window, returning to USWNT camp after sustaining an injury in the United States’ April 8 match against Ireland. Despite playing only six matches in 2023, Swanson’s seven goals led the national team in scoring. Swanson will participate in camp but is not on the 23-player roster eligible for CONCACAF W Gold Cup play.

• This is Naeher’s first call up of 2024 as the USWNT enters an Olympic year. Last year saw Naeher in the net for 11 of the United States’ 18 matches, and the goalkeeper did not record a loss on the year, accumulating seven wins and four draws. While bringing her career shutout tally up to 59 in 2023, only two goals managed to slip past Naeher.

• Aguilera and Bianchi joined their respective countries for W Gold Cup play. Aguilera is with Puerto Rico and Biacnchi with Brazil, and there was a possibility their two team could have met Feb. 21.

• Fisher and Kuikka will represent El Salvador and Finland, respectively. This is Fisher’s first international call up after receiving her El Salvadoran passport and joining the country for their January camp as part of El Salvador’s preliminary W Gold Cup roster.

Kuikka made her international debut for Finland in 2013 and has since earned 84 caps and scored three goals. She was named Finland National Player of the Year in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

All six players will rejoin the Red Stars to finish the preseason after concluding their international duties. The Red Stars begin NWSL play March 16 when they take on the Utah Royals in Sandy, Utah. The club returns to Chicago for their home opener at SeatGeek Stadium March 23 against Seattle Reign FC.

Boyd retires
Longtime Red Stars backup goalie Emily Boyd announced her retirement.

Boyd filled in for Naeher during international duties last July and was named to the NWSL’s Best XI for that month. She appeared in 18 games for Chicago from 2018-2023.

Sports bits
• What a magic number. Morton College’s 74-60 win at Sandburg College on Feb. 17 marked the fourth time this season the Panthers scored 74 points in a game — all wins.
• Saint Xavier women’s basketball player Aaliyahna Derrell scored 30 points on Feb. 17, but the Cougars dropped a 73-59 decision to Holy Cross (Indiana) in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup on the road.
• The SXU’s men’s volleyball team packed its schedule with powerhouse teams early and started the season 0-5. But the Cougars inched their way to .500 and after a tri-match with St. Ambrose and Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 17, was even at 5-5.