By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
Two Chicago Red Stars standouts are going to Paris to represent the U.S. in the Summer Olympics.
Goalie Alyssa Naeher and forward Mallory Swanson have been named to the United States Women’s National Team.
Naeher was on U.S. Olympic teams that played in Rio de Janeiro and 2016 and Tokyo in 2020. The team failed to make it past the quarterfinals in 2016 and won a bronze medal in 2020.
Swanson was on the 2016 team but was not selected in 2020. She has returned from a knee injury and surgery that wiped out most of her 2023 campaign.
Red Star Sarah Griffith is proud of her two Olympic teammates.
“I think this is my third year playing with Mal and we kind of play around the same areas of the field,” Griffith said. “Being able to learn from her, watch the little things she does at training, has helped me grow tremendously.
“I think [Mal and Alyssa] are both just as great teammates as they are players. The way they help this team run, help the girls get through the year, the little side conversations we have that boost our confidence as players makes all the difference. I feel extremely lucky to learn from them and be alongside them. The way they handle themselves coming in and out of market from big tournaments always amazes us. They’re such smooth and fluid people and players and we’re lucky to have them and lucky to learn from them.”
Prior to opening play at the Olympic Games in Paris, Naeher and Swanson will join the rest of the U.S. team for two friendly matches July 13 and July 16. The July 13 friendly against Mexico at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, will celebrate the 1999 Women’s World Cup team and the 25th anniversary of the team’s historic tournament championship run.
The July 16 friendly against Costa Rica at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., will send off the team before it opens group stage play against Zambia in Paris on July 25. The U.S. will then face off with fellow Group B teams Germany and Australia on July 28 and 31, respectively. The top two teams of Group B will advance to the quarterfinals.
Red Stars break winless streak
Both Swanson and Naeher came up big in a 3-0 road victory over San Diego on June 28, preventing the Red Stars from going winless in June.
The victory was the Stars’ first since a 3-1 win over expansion Utah May 12. They went 0-4-1 between wins.
Swanson scored her sixth goal of the season and third in as many games, finding the net in the 67th minute in front of an announced crowd of 24,115 at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Red Stars (6-7-2) picked up an own-goal in the first half while Jameese Joseph, who came into the game in the 46th minute, assisted on Swanson’s goal in the 67th minute and two minutes later scored a goal of her own.
Naeher racked up her second shutout of the season and the 45th regular-season clean sheet of her career.
Coming up
The Red Stars are at home at SeatGeek Stadium for the first time since May 25 when they take on struggling Houston at noon on July 6.
Houston (3-7-5) dropped a 2-0 decision to Kansas City on June 28 in Kansas City and has scored just 11 goals this season, an average of .73 per match.
Houston went 0-for-June in the scoring department. The Dash’s last goal came on May 24 in a 3-0 win over North Carolina when Diana Ordonez scored in the 78th minute.