It was almost an impossible act to follow.
But Brazilian star Ludmilla followed it and followed it well.
A week of thrilling 3-3 ties for the Chicago Stars started on Aug. 19 with goalie Alyssa Naher scoring her first NWSL goal in the last second in Seattle to cap a comeback from a 3-0 deficit.
It’s hard to top that, right?
Well, Ludmilla had a historic performance four nights later as she set an NWSL record with a hat trick in the span of just 10 minutes and nine seconds to help the Stars tie North Carolina in front of an announced crowd of 2,473 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
The Stars (1-9-7) trailed 2-0 before she went on the unprecedented tear starting in the 76th minute.
“I knew we didn’t have much time so I had to get ready for the next one and the next one,” she said through teammate/interpreter Maitane. “It just happened.
“We all believe in each other and there are moments when we look at each other and say, ‘We gotta do it. We need to believe and keep going.’”
It’s the first hat trick by a Chicago player since Sam Kerr did it on June 30, 2019. Sam Staab was in on two assists.
Interim coach Ella Masar said that players and coaches on this team will never forget these two matches for the rest of their lives.
“I should either go play the lottery or never play it again,” she said.
In the Seattle thriller, Naeher made her 200th regular-season NWSL start — the most by a goalie. But it was at the end of the match when she scored her first league goal, leaving her post and mixing it up with the offense in the closing minutes of stoppage time.
“It was chaotic,” Naeher said. “You see a bunch of bodies in there and we knew it was the last kick of the game. I don’t know who kept it alive in the first place to get a head or a foot on it but the mentality of the group is to throw any and every limb possible towards the ball to keep it alive.
“And I just wanted to find the back of the net.”
The Stars visit Washington at 3 p.m. Aug. 31.
Masar’s last hurrah?
It’s possible that the North Carolina match was Masar’s last as interim coach. Anders Jacobson, who takes over as an assistant when new coach Martin Sjogren starts his job in January, is set to step in as interim coach.
Masar would move back to an assistant coach’s role after leading the team to an 0-0-4 mark. She said if this was her final game as head coach this season, it’s a great way to go out.
“In a five-day span to show this effort — I’m going to get emotional,” she said. “It’s an honor to be here and an honor to coach them. Some days they tell me to (blank) off and the next day you see belief. I love that roller coaster of being a coach.”
Fire fall
The Chicago Fire dropped a 4-0 road MLS game to Philadelphia on Aug. 23.
It was the first time the Fire (11-10-6) have been shut out on the road this season.
The Fire have a week off before playing their final SeatGeek Stadium game of the season at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 when they host New England.
Fire II blanked
The Chicago Fire II lost 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls II in MLS NEXT Pro action on the road Aug. 24.
The Fire II (11-6-5) visits New England at 2 p.m. Aug. 31 in a battle of two teams that are in a three-way tie in points in Group A with 41 apiece.