There are really three summary points here
- Probably the most important is the 13,000+ in attendance. That is a huge number for the Dash, and while the will-they-won’t-they-play narrative was both a distraction and a disappointment, it is up to the team to try to leverage that into future permanent fans.
- The Chicago Red Stars are really good. Like, really, really good. Their coach, Rory Dames (and his enthusiastic assistants, Trae Manny and Christian Lavers), deserves some real credit here. I would say that, on the whole, the Dash are the more talented individuals, but Chicago was just plain better: better as a team and better in the individual matchups. That’s almost always coaching, and it’s not often I see Randy Waldrum come out second in that contest. Here are some examples
- They dominated second balls. Meaning, on a goal kick or any clearance, or even most long passes, if a Dash player had the first touch, there was immediately a triangle of Red Stars around them, one attacking the ball, the other two the textbook 3-5 yards away. This meant the Red Stars came away with ball after ball, severely limiting the ability of the Dash to retain possession or build any sort of attack.
- They were extremely impressive anticipating the passing lanes. Now, the Dash passing was average at best, so that contributed, but the ability of the Red Star midfield to see the pass before it was struck and to beat the Dash player to the ball was a constant throughout the game.
- When they saw an advantage, they were relentless in exploiting it. More on this below.
- Finally, if the other team doubles you in all categories–shots, shots on target, corners–a 2-1 loss seems about right.
#THE GOOD
Vanessa DiBernardo was very good in the first half, and deserved her goal. She controlled a lot of the midfield, and was key in exploiting the left side of the Dash defense, serving as a fulcrum to get both Taryn Hemmings (who was fantastic throughout) and Alyssa Mautz involved in vertical play. It was impressive to watch.
Also for Chicago, Rachel Quon had a really good game, full of energy and presence, constantly getting into dangerous positions and pairing well with DiBernardo.
For the Dash, Erin McLeod‘s return was well appreciated. Without her ability to launch herself into the air, it could have been much worse.
The #NCE lives! Niki Cross again put in a good shift at DM. She remains a little slow to move the ball, but her work rate is fantastic, and when she drops towards the back line, the Dash are able to push up on the wings quite effectively.
I totally understand Waldrum’s love for Melissa Henderson: tenacious and more importantly, incredibly versatile. She floated just in this game between at least three positions, and wasn’t exposed at any of them.
In the first half, the Dash had an explicit strategy of giving the ball to Toni Pressley (who, btw, seemed totally over her inexplicable shoddy passing from the previous home game) on the left wing, and then letting her try to find either Kealia Ohai or Jessica McDonald over the top. It’s a low percentage play with a big reward: you’re always one bounce or one touch from freeing a good scorer on a one v one, and I liked the way they kept trying it. However, see below.
McDonald and Ohai continue to be excellent. Ohai’s work to get the byline and chip to the far post for Tiffany McCarthy‘s first goal of the season was outstanding, and one of several very dangerous moments for her.
#THE UNGOOD
Camila. I don’t think I’ve seen a worse half of soccer from a single player in a long time. She was exposed time and time again on the left flank (and was as uniquely at fault for the Red Stars’ first goal as you can be: slow on the defensive run, never closed the player down, never challenged the cross), she gave the ball away at least five times in the first half alone, her passes were constantly off-target (even the ones that found a teammate, found them awkwardly). It was a horrorshow. I praised Mautz above, it’s unclear to what degree she was good, given how bad Camila was. To her credit, her second half was much better, with three nice attacking runs and one excellent cross-field pass that stood out. But that first half … ouch.
Camila’s weaknesses were echoed elsewhere: the Dash were a step slow to close down defenders, and a step weak in their challenges. They rarely put together a string of possession, constantly surrendering possession to the work of DiBernardo, Quon, Samantha Johnson, and Danielle Colaprico.
Also, I wonder if putting Pressley out to the left in the first half was compensatory: that is, we all know Camila is out of position at DL, so was she being shifted that way to cover? If so, fine, but it also left Ellie Brush isolated with the Pressley hard pressed to scramble back into position when under attack. Pressley is at her best when her mobility is challenged less, and she can rely on her strength and her ability to read the game; this strategy exposed her weaknesses more, and if it was a knock-on effect of having a weak spot at DL, well, let’s do something else, shall we?
Set-pieces were weak overall. The Dash had opportunities in the box, but could never get to the ball quickly enough or in the right spots. To some degree, that’s luck, but it also is positioning, anticipation, consistency of delivery. There were struggles in clearing set pieces as well that led to some nervous moments or being bailed out by Captain McLeod.
Injuries. Ella Masar looked to come off with a hamstring issue, which is never good, after a typically committed performance, including a superwoman dive at a clearing header just outside the box. Jessica McDonald seems indestructible, but also takes significant damage each game.
#FAVES
My favorite moment: the pregame kick featured a mom and two daughters. The kids (perhaps 8 and 10) drilled the ball into the back of the net. The mom mishit the ball, sending it almost straight into the air. It landed with enough spin that it crawled towards … towards … and over the endline. And there was much rejoicing.
M’s favorite moment: just having 13,000+ people cheering women’s soccer.
Dynamo Theory writeup. Offical Dash report.