July 6, 2012
LOOKING TO SHAKE A FEVER
Red Stars face Philly on Saturday

Local product Ella Masar is back in a Chicago Red Stars uniform. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images

The Chicago Red Stars will begin the final stretch of the season Saturday night in Evanston at Northwestern’s Lakefront Field when they take on the Philly Fever at 6pm. With just 4 games remaining in the WPSL Elite regular season, the Red Stars are tied for first place with the Boston Breakers.

The last time Philly and Chicago met was on June 24th in Egg Harbor, NJ. Philly came out swinging, scoring a goal in just the 3rd minute. But the Red Stars settled-in and found a rhythm, eventually outlasting them 4-1, with two goals by Julianne Sitch, and a goal each by Lori Chalupny and Alyssa Mautz. Philly is coming off a 2-0 win on Thursday night at FC Indiana, while the Red Stars are looking to bounce back from just their second loss of the season, which they suffered in Boston last weekend.

The Breakers caused heartbreak for the Red Stars when they overcame a scoring deadlock in the 89th minute of the match to steal a 1-0 win from a Kyah Simon goal. The Red Stars would have taken comfortable sole-possession of 1st place with a win or a tie. Each team’s record stands at 8-2-0, with Chicago having a 1-goal lead on overall goal differential.

The top 4 out of 8 teams in the league will take part in the WPSL Elite Championship series to be played in Rochester, NY, at the home of WNY Flash. The Red Stars will be looking for redemption on that field, as they suffered a lopsided 0-3 loss there earlier this season. Semifinals between the 2 & 3 seed and the 1 & 4 seed will be played on Wednesday, July 25th, at 5pm and 8pm ET, with the Final to take place on Saturday, July 28th, at 1pm ET. It is anticipated that all matches will be live webcast.

The Red Stars may have an extra advantage with the addition of Forward Ella Masar, who made her long awaited debut in last weekend’s loss to the Breakers. With her second half appearance she gave the Red Stars one of their best looks of the night when she put a shot off the top crossbar.

“It’s been long overdue for me to be able to play in front of my home crowd,” she said. “I will be playing this Saturday for my father, family, and fans. It’s such an honor to have that flag on my shirt and as long as I get to wear it I will play with the pride it represents.”