Match Preview: Chicago Red Stars vs. San Diego Wave FC
Soldier Field | Chicago, Illinois – Saturday, July 30 at 8:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Red Stars midfielder Samantha Fisher scored her first career goal against the Dash in the club’s last game. Fischer is the fourth player under 24 years old to score for Chicago this season (Amanda Kowalski, Sarah Griffith and Ava Cook) with the Red Stars joining Portland for the most such goalscorers this season. Leading the team in scoring, though, is forward Mallory Pugh, whose six goals have her tied for third in the league in scoring. Perhaps as impressive is the fact that Pugh has slotted those six goals in just seven appearances, only five of which were starts.
Making her third career start for the Wave, goalkeeper Carly Telford made five saves while earning the clean sheet against Louisville in the club’s most recent outing. The five saves are the most by a Wave goalkeeper in a shutout this season. The team has relied on a variety of goalscorers in their last few matches, but it’s forward Alex Morgan and her 11 goals that lead the way this season for San Diego. That number also puts Morgan top of the league in scoring.
Match facts: A big Saturday night is anticipated at Soldier Field as the Chicago Red Stars host San Diego Wave FC in just the second all-time meeting between the two sides. In the only meeting to date, the Wave scored a 2-1 home victory over the Red Stars. Alex Morgan (six) and Taylor Kornieck (five) each had 5+ shots in the match, one of the three times this season the duo has done that. No other NWSL pair has more than one such game in 2022.
Dating back to last season, though, Chicago is unbeaten in its last 10 home games (W7 D3). The only longer home unbeaten streak in team history is a 15-game run spanning the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Chicago will now look for a result after falling to Houston, who broke the Red Stars’ nine-game unbeaten streak that dated all the way back to that loss against San Diego in mid-May.
The Wave played Racing Louisville to a 0-0 draw in the team’s last outing, San Diego’s 10th game this season holding its opponent to one goal or less. That leads the NWSL for most games allowing one or fewer goals this season. The last few games have been a mixed bag for the side, though, with the team earning four points in their last three games (W1 D1 L1).
