CHICAGO – Bianca St. Georges, Rachel Hill, and Savannah McCaskill score as the Chicago Red Stars advance to the NWSL Challenge Cup Final with a 3-2 victory over Sky Blue FC in the NWSL Challenge Cup semifinal round.
KEY MOMENTS
8’ Bianca St. Georges cuts to her left foot to get past the defender and finds the back of the net at the far post for her first professional goal.
11’ A deflected cross from Bianca St. Georges bounces off Katie Johnson and a Sky Blue FC defender to find Rachel Hill, who shoots with her left foot to give the Red Stars their second goal in four minutes.
60’ Savannah McCaskill starts the Red Stars counter-attack in the Sky Blue half of the field, playing a one-two ball to Bianca St. Georges and back for a third Red Stars goal.
72’ Sky Blue FC’s Evelynne Viens scores off of a corner to cut Chicago’s lead to two.
77’ A Sky Blue FC cross finds Julie Ertz in Chicago’s own box, which ricochets past Alyssa Naeher for an own goal to make the game 3-2 Chicago.
GAME NOTES
Bianca St. Georges continues her impressive debut games in the NWSL, opening up the game’s scoring in the 7’ minute. She would also be credited with an assist in the 60’ minute, setting up Savannah McCaskill’s goal to give the Red Stars their third goal of the game. On the defensive side, St. Georges recorded two interceptions, a tackle and clearance, as well as six recoveries and three duels won.
Savannah McCaskill turned in her second Budweiser Woman of the Match performance, scoring a goal and creating two chances. She registered a 70.8% passing percentage as well as two duels won.
Zoey Goralski has a team-high six tackles, winning back possession six times, two interceptions and a clearance.
With Wednesday night’s victory over Sky Blue FC, the Chicago Red Stars will be advancing to their second consecutive Championship game. The Red Stars join only the Portland Thorns (‘13, ‘17-’18) and North Carolina Courage (‘17-’19) as the only active NWSL teams to appear in multiple championship matches and to do so in consecutive years.
NEXT GAME The Chicago Red Stars will play the Houston Dash in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Final on Sunday, July 26th at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Sky Blue FC vs Chicago Red Stars July 22, 2020 Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, UT)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Sky Blue FC 0 2 0
Chicago Red Stars 2 1 0
Scoring Summary:
CHI: St. Georges 8’ (Johnson), Hill 11’, McCaskill 60’ (St. Georges)
NJ: Viens 72’ (Zerboni), Ertz 77’ (OG)
LINEUPS CHI: GK Naeher, D Gorden, D Ertz, D St. Georges, D Goralski (Sharples 80’), M McCaskill (Doniak 78’), M DiBernardo, M Colaprico, F Watt, F Hill (Vasconcelos 66’), F Johnson
NJ: GK Sheridan, D Flores (Dorsey 66’), D Johnson, D Lewandowski, D Purce, M Zerboni, M Cudjoe (Eddy 78’), M Woldmoe, F Kawasumi, F Onumonu, F Monaghan (Viens 66’)
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