For years, Tatumn Milazzo made SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview her professional home.
The Orland Park native and Andrew graduate spent four years with the Chicago Stars but will not be able to play on the field for a final goodbye. The Stars are leaving SeatGeek after this year to play in Evanston.
The defender was released by the Stars during the offseason and signed with expansion Utah, which visits the Stars at 3 p.m. on Oct. 5 in an NWSL game. Milazzo, however, suffered an ACL injury in the preseason and hasn’t played during the regular season.
“I got here in January, and I was so excited to be on this team,” Milazzo said in a video posted on the Utah website. “It was a great preseason and I was super excited going into the first game. During training, I went to kick a long ball and I immediately knew that I tore my ACL.”
Milazzo has her eyes on a 2026 return.
“Oh my gosh, I am so excited for next year,” she said. “I’m literally counting down the days and I’m already dreaming about the first training back. It’s going to be so fun. It’s going to be exciting to be back.”
Milazzo said she learned a few things while being sidelined.
“Everything happens for a reason, and it has given me so much perspective,” she said. “I appreciate different things about the game that I didn’t notice before.
“I feel like taking everything I learned this year into next year and I feel really confident to start again.”
Including cup and playoff action, Milazzo played 90 games for the Stars and scored four goals. Last year, she became just the second non-goalie in league history to win back-to-back NWSL Save of the Week honors.
Stars lose to NWSL’s top team
The Stars dropped a 4-1 decision to NWSL-leading Kansas City on Sept. 26 on the road.
Nadia Gomes scored the lone goal for the last-place Stars (2-11-9) and goalie Alyssa Naehar notched her career 700th regular-season save in the 21st minute against the Current (18-2-2).
Fire almost in postseason
The Chicago Fire hung onto ninth place in the MSL East with a 2-0 win over Columbus on Sept. 27 at Soldier Field.
The Fire (14-11-6) had a five-point lead in the standings over the New York Red Bulls for ninth after the game. The eighth- and ninth-place finishers face each other in a wild-card game to get into the playoffs. The Fire hasn’t been to the postseason since 2017.
Andrew Gutman and Hugo Cuypers scored for the Fire and Chris Brady recorded the shutout.
The Fire were scheduled to visit Inter Miami on Sept. 30 and will host Toronto at 7:30 Oct. 4 at Soldier Field.
Fire II loses to Atlanta
The Chicago Fire II dropped a 5-2 MLS NEXT Pro decision to Atlanta on Sept. 28 at SeatGeek Stadium.
The playoff-bound Fire (9-9-8) picked up goals from Jason Shokalook and Robert Turdean.
The Fire II visit Columbus Oct. 5 in the regular-season finale.