By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
The NWSL released a fun fact that is pretty darn fun for Chicago Red Stars fans.
This year’s version of the Red Stars opened the season 3-0-1, scoring 10 points in the first four road games. They were the fourth team in league history to do that. According to the league, the previous three all reached the NWSL championship match.
However …
Home has been another issue. In their first four home games, the Red Stars were 1-3 with a three-game losing streak heading into May 12. If they can get it together at home, perhaps that chance of making it to the championship will come to fruition.
The Red Stars took a step in the right direction with a 3-1 win over expansion Utah on May 12 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
It was Mother’s Day as well, and fans were allowed to bring their pets to the game.
“The dogs were here,” Red Stars coach Lorne Donaldson said. “We had some dogs on the field and we were able to bark a little bit.”
Jenna Bike, Mallory Swanson and Penelope Hocking scored for the Red Stars (5-3-1). Utah fell to 1-7-1.
Naeher hurt
The Utah win did have a big blow as star goalie Alyssa Naeher suffered a left leg injury in the 62nd minute and left the game. She appeared to hurt it on a recovery run and played a little bit on it but left the game walking gingerly. She was replaced by Mackenzie Wood.
Donaldson did not have any information about the injury after the game.
“I’ll leave it to the pros – the medical team,” he said.