Mary Grace Grabil /Chicago Stars FC
The Chicago Stars were moments away from earning a point on the road before a late goal by the Orlando Pride solidified a 1-0 loss on Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium.
Orlando was scoreless for 87 minutes until the Pride broke through in the 88th minute when Julie Doyle scored. This meant handing Chicago another narrow defeat.
Despite the loss, goalkeeper Katie Atkinson delivered one of her strongest performances of the season, recording a season-high 10 saves to keep the Stars in the match. Orlando applied pressure throughout the evening, but Atkinson repeatedly denied quality scoring chances to give Chicago an opportunity.
“I went with my gut but also had a little meeting with our team and our close goalkeeper unit and kinda had a plan and just stuck to it, and I was really happy with that outcome,” Atkinson said in the post-game press conference.
Defender Aaliyah Farmer echoed her happiness during the press conference as well.
“It’s so big, I mean it gives me so much more confidence just knowing she’s able to make those saves and save our [behinds] most of the time. Katie has been huge these last couple of games. I mean we all know she is a very good key for our team,” Farmer said.
Chicago also celebrated several player milestones and returns to the lineup.
Defender Sam Staab surpassed 5,000 minutes played in a Stars jersey and is receiving praise for her consistent presence along Chicago's back line.
Rookie defender Elise Evans made her professional debut after signing with the club in January, while midfielder Tessa Dellarose returned to action for the first time since suffering an injury during Chicago's home match against Portland on May 3.
Midfielder Julia Grosso also returned to the field for the first time since May 31 after recovering from a head injury sustained during Chicago's home match against the San Diego Wave.
The Stars created chances of their own throughout the match but were unable to find a breakthrough. One of Chicago's best opportunities came when Jameese Joseph attempted a goal, leaving the visitors inches away from taking the lead before Orlando eventually found the game winning goal.
Chicago's disciplined defensive effort frustrated one of the league's top offenses for much of the night, but Doyle's late finish proved to be the difference as the Stars left Orlando with an unfortunate defeat.
Atkinson also admitted that Orlando definitely proved to be a challenge.
“They have a lot of talent, it felt like they had a lot of width moving us side to side, sometimes it was hard for us to shift but I’ll be honest I’m so proud of the group, I know obviously the stats might not say it but they work their tails off…I think that’s something we can hold on to moving forward with the effort and energy that we have even though it wasn’t going our way every time,” she added during the conference.
Although the result extends Chicago's recent track record, the performance provided encouraging signs defensively.
Coach Martin highlighted in the post-game press conference that losing Jordyn due to her injury will definitely pose a great challenge for the team.
“We didn’t know the size of the injury but we kind of figured it was an ACL injury, of course that’s tough, it’s tough on Jordyn most of all. It’s gonna have an impact on us because I think Jordyn is one of the best nine’s in the league, she’s also a good character who works hard and she’s a good spirit in the facility and the team so of course we are gonna miss her."
"Of course, you look for a replacement the moment this happens. That's the way this business works. So we are gonna look at the different possibilities, the players available, the budget, but we don’t really know all of that. It’s also gonna come down to what’s possible at the moment,” Coach Martin said.
With several key players returning from injury and young talent continuing to gain experience, the Stars will look to build on Friday's effort as they prepare for their next match. Now the Stars must also find a replacement for Jordyn, which means more change will be underway.
