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Chicago Red Stars

Preview: Chicago Red Stars vs. Angel City FC

April 13, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Chicago Red Stars News Release


CHICAGO - The still-undefeated Chicago Red Stars return home to SeatGeek Stadium April 13, hosting West Coast club, Angel City FC. Chicago (2-0-1, 7 pts) looks to extend their no-loss streak to four, remain one of the four undefeated National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) teams and keep the Red Stars' spot near the top of the table. Meanwhile, Angel City (0-2-1, 1 pt) seek their first win of 2024 and to rise from last place on the NWSL table.

Where to Watch

National Broadcast: ION

Previous Result:

CHI: Chicago drew even with Orlando on the road, 1-1

LA: Angel City fell 4-2 to the Kansas City Current

Storylines

The More Things Change...: The last time the Red Stars went undefeated in their first four regular-season matches was 2015. Just shy of a decade later, there are a few parallels that can be drawn from what became a monumental 2015 season for Chicago. The Red Stars began 2015 with the same 2-0-1 record that the club holds now and both home openers for Chicago in 2015 and in 2024 ended in a one-goal victory (3-2 and 2-1). The 2015 season went down in history for the Chicago Red Stars, who secured their first playoff berth in club history after recording just three regular-season losses across 20 matches. The achievement began a seven-season streak of consecutive playoff appearances for Chicago through 2022, who now search for an eighth postseason appearance after missing the playoffs in 2023. No players on the history-making 2015 Red Stars roster remain; the longest tenured player in Chicago is team captain and goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, who came to Chicago in 2016 from Boston. Coincidentally, the fourth game of the 2015 Red Stars season was played in Bridgeview, in what is now SeatGeek Stadium, just before Chicago's home matches switched from Lisle to Bridgeview permanently in 2016.

History on Our Side: While the Red Stars have arguably gotten a Cinderella start to the season, Angel City has been struggling, as they sit last on the table, and in the club's statistics. Not only do the Red Stars have a better record than Angel City in 2024, Chicago also has more multi-goal matches, a better conversion rate on their chances (23.81 percent versus Angel City's 8.33 percent) and has won more tackles (39 versus ACFC's 29). Against Angel City, the Red Stars have scored multiple goals in three straight games, winning two and drawing the most recent match last year at home, 2-2. The only time Chicago lost to Angel City was in their first meeting August 14, 2022 (1-0) and the Red Stars' 2-0 shutout of Angel City October 1, 2022, secured Chicago's spot in the playoffs. While stats don't predict the future, it's certainly harder to say the Red Stars will see their unbeaten streak broken.

For Club and For Country: All five international players called up to represent four countries closed the international window with wins. Natalia Kuikka and Finland reached fulltime first, coming from behind to beat Italy 2-1. Kuikka started in both matches Finland played in April's UEFA Women's EURO 2025 qualifying round. Julia Bianchi, who joined Brazil for SheBelieves Cup play, started in Brazil's third-place match against Japan. Brazil fell behind and allowed Japan to score in the first half, but came back in the second 45 to equalize and send the match to penalties before winning the shootout 3-0. Alyssa Naeher and Mallory Swanson featured in the SheBelieves Cup final, which followed a similar plot to the third-place match. The United States trailed 0-1 to Canada at halftime and came back to equalize in the second half before taking the lead. Canada then converted a penalty to bring the score even at 2-2 and the United States Women's National Team (USWNT) found themselves in a penalty shootout with Canada for the second time in 35 days. Naeher saved a PK, stepped to the spot to bury one herself, then returned to the net to stop another attempt as part of the USWNT's 5-4 penalty shootout win. The only country to not have a comeback victory was Nádia Gomes' Portugal, who shut out Malta 2-0 in Women's UERO 2025 qualifiers.

Number One Naeher: When Alyssa Naeher isn't playing crucial parts to USWNT victory, she's setting the tone for a record-breaking season with the Red Stars, too. Naeher currently holds the lowest goals against average (0.67) across the league with keepers who have tended goal in three matches. Additionally, Naeher has already won NWSL Save of the Week honors while accumulating an 81.82 save percentage. No NWSL keeper has more than one clean sheet yet in 2024, and Naeher sits as one of the eight who do. Will the goalie break the tie and top the clean sheet category at the end of Week 4?

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