Ludmila Flips Stars Fortunes Against Bay
Chicago Stars FC get first win of the 2025 season with a 2-1 victory against Bay FC
FINALLY, after opening the season 0-0-3 the Chicago Stars earn their first points of the season with a 2-1 victory over Bay FC. This score line really shouldn’t surprise anyone. In the 3 times these teams have ever played the score line has been 2-1. In typical Stars fashion, the win occurred away from home in the Bay. I don’t like to use the term “must win” so early in the season because there are still so many games to be played but for players, as well as fans confidence, this win felt like it was much needed.
Ludmila was absolutely on fire to start this game. Ludmila found the back of the net in the 5th minute from a fantastic ball from Jemeese Joseph. Ludmila timed her run perfectly and the weight of the pass by Joseph allowed Ludmila time and space between the back line of Bay and the keeper to run onto the ball. The finish was the best part of the play though. After the keeper tried to make a play on the ball and wiffed Ludmila had an open net that Abby Dahlkemper was rushing to try to cover. Ludmila made the incredibly smart play of shooting behind the sprinting Dahlkemper who had no chance of blocking the shot due to her momentum. Ludmila celebrated with a backflip and it was very reminiscent of former Red Star Sam Kerr.
Later in the first half, the front line linked up again with Joseph feeding a ball into Ludmila again. Ludmila used some fancy footwork inside the 18 to make the Bay defenders miss and slotted the ball home to make the score 2-0. Chicago seemed to be fond of a chip and chase strategy against Bay for most of this game and it worked multiple times to create dangerous chances. Unfortunately, Chicago still struggled to get shots off this game and only mustered 9 in total with 6 being on target. I don’t think this particular strategy is one the club should lean on against most teams in the league because it won’t be successful.
For the first time this season, Maitane started for Chicago. Maitane signed with Chicago this offseason after playing with Gotham. You could tell throughout this game what a presence Maitane is on the pitch. It felt like Chicago actually had a midfield that was functional. Maitane’s ability to hold down the defensive midfield without the help of a double pivot freed up players like Bea Franklin and Julia Grosso to move further up the pitch to help with the offensive attack. It feels like over the next few games when more chemistry is built with Maitane in the line up we will see even more success and hopefully more goals! Other than the unfortunate handball that resulted in the PK that Bay scored on, Maitane had a solid performance for her first start with the club.
Camryn Biegalski was one of the unsung heroes of this game. Yes, Chicago won the game but they did not possess the ball much at only 32%. The defense had to lock down Bay and they did several times. Biegalski won tons of duals and really locked down the right side of the pitch for Chicago. It was nice to see Biegalski have a solid game after a couple shakier performances to start the season.
Starting line up shake ups
Head Coach Lorne Donaldson has consistently changed up line ups this season due to a variety of factors. Some players are coming back from injuries and others just haven’t performed as well as hoped so there have been some moving parts. I think it’s hard for a team to build chemistry with constant starting line up changes but I also think it’s important to try and get your highest performing players on the pitch at the same time.
The back line has been the area with the most changes this season. With Natalia Kuikka out injured and Sam Staab still trying to regain fitness, of course this is to be expected. What I didn’t expect was for a player like Hannah Anderson to get removed from the starting line up now a couple times because of how successful she was in her rookie season. Anderson had a very solid rookie season that earned a 3 year contract extension from Chicago. It is confusing to me that a player the club felt confident enough in to extend is now getting benched for players who are not playing their natural position at center back. Anderson is a second year player trying to learn the game at the professional level. Why would you sub her in for one of the best center backs in the league rather than letting her play along side that player? I have a lot of concern that Chicago is more worried about making sure veteran players are in the starting line up than growing the young talent they have signed to extended contracts.
At this point in the season, I think the outside back positions are still up for grabs. Biegalski and Taylor Malham have had some good games so far this season but they have also struggled at times. We’ve also see Justina Gaynor get some minutes in that role. It will be interesting once Kuikka returns to the team from the 45 day list to see who will start on the other side. I think Chicago is a bit of a ways off from having a solidified back line that won’t have changes week to week.
Up Next
The Chicago Stars will take on Utah Royals April 18th on NWSL+ at 8:30 pm. This will be a quick turnaround for Chicago as they played the final game of the weekend in the league on Sunday and now will be headed to Utah for a game on Friday. This should be an interesting game. Utah has yet to win a game this season and Chicago is coming off their first win of the year. Each team struggles to keep clean sheets and Utah hasn’t won a game in their last 6 going back to last season. It will be important for Chicago to keep tabs on the lethal Ally Sentnor who has a rocket of a shot. Chicago will also see a familiar face in Bianca St Georges for Utah who is a hard nosed player. Tanaka was injured during the international break and didn’t play this last weekend so it’s hard to say if she will be available for Utah but they definitely missed her skill against Portland.
During the match, you can join the Red Stars Report community in our Discord server’s Match Chat channel. Join in on the conversation live or hang out and see what others are discussing throughout the match.
I agree with you on the benching of Hannah. She had that crucially bad pass that led to a goal, but otherwise solid.
I think our weakest position on the pitch is not our midfielders, but outside backs. I did a quick look recently of the starting outside backs of every team in the league. I felt I'd take any teams duo over ours. It is our most glaring need!
Taylor has improved every year with us, but still has room to grow.
I've enjoyed your recaps, thank you for them.
Larry
I agree with you on the benching of Hannah. She had that crucially bad pass that led to a goal, but otherwise solid.
I think our weakest position on the pitch is not our midfielders, but outside backs. I did a quick look recently of the starting outside backs of every team in the league. I felt I'd take any teams duo over ours. It is our most glaring need!
Taylor has improved every year with us, but still has room to grow.
I've enjoyed your recaps, thank you for them.
Larry