In a battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League, the Chicago Red Stars got the better of the Boston Breakers with a 1-0 victory at North Central College Sunday night. Naperville native Michele Weissenhofer scored the lone goal of the game in the 34th minute, with Lori Chalupny credited on the assist. Jamie Forbes once again held the shutout in goal for the Red Stars who move to 3-0-0 on the season.
Red Stars’ Head Coach Rory Dames was pleased with his group’s effort in only the third match of the season for the Red Stars. The Breakers have double that number of games on their record now and stand at 5-1-0.
“They’re (Boston) coming off a tough match on Friday (at FC Indiana), so it took them some time to get their legs,” he noted. “The second half they came out and picked up the pace of their play and put us on our heels and we actually got stuck into having to defend a bit more than we would have liked. They got to a speed that we couldn’t quite catch up to, but I also think that’s partially because this is only our third game. We had said all along this feels like it wraps up our preseason, whereas they’re already playing in their sixth league game, so they’re just a little bit farther ahead of us.”
The Red Stars may have gotten the better looks of the first half, but Boston was able to take control of the pace of the second half to keep it an even contest. In an exciting back-and-forth match, Red Stars’ goalkeeper Forbes had her share of work for the evening to keep high-scoring Boston out of the net.
“I have to give credit to the back line and the whole team effort,” remarked Forbes. “We’re the only team in the league without a goal against, so that feels good moving forward.”
One of those back-line players also received the praise of Dames for her outstanding efforts against a lethal Boston front line.
“Michelle Wenino (Red Stars’ defender) was fantastic and possibly the MVP of the match,” he stated. “She did an outstanding job for us defensively. Jamie (Forbes) also kept us very organized directing the back line. But you won’t beat Boston with just one or two players; it had to be a group effort.”
On the offensive side, it was the lucky left foot of forward and hometown player Weissenhofer that secured a win for the Red Stars.
“I had an opportunity to score that I should have put in about 30 seconds prior to the actual goal,” she remembered. “I was still in the goal area after the missed shot, then Lori (Chalupny) got a piece of the ball on target that ricocheted back to me and I was able to put it in. It was really fun to play in front of my hometown crowd and I’m grateful to all my friends, family, and fans that came out to see us today.”
The Red Stars next two matches will be in Chicagoland beginning this Friday, June 8, against New York Fury, followed by a Sunday, June 10, match against ASA Chesapeake Charge. Boston will next play at home against Philadelphia Fever on June 10.
