Despite 0-0 tie, Red Stars home debut a rousing success
Lindsay Tarpley dropped her head into her left hand, pounded a table with her right and turned to Chicago Red Stars coach Emma Hayes.
"How did I not finish that (shot)?" Tarpley asked rhetorically, the frustration suddenly spreading over her face. "How did I not finish that?"
Tarpley wasn't alone.
In the first Women's Professional Soccer home game in team history, the Red Stars sent 18 shots toward the Sky Blue FC net, yet not one of them made the nylon shake. The game finished in a 0-0 tie Sunday in front of 5,824 fans at soggy Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
The Red Stars (1-0-2, 5 points) attacked the Sky Blue net with style if not effectiveness, most notably Megan Rapinoe's bicycle kick near the edge of the penalty area late in the first half. The shot was about to dip under the crossbar when 6-foot-1 goalkeeper Karen Bardsley got back to her line in time to tip it over.
"I was kind of far out. It's hard to get a lot of power from that far out, but there wasn't much else I could do with it," Rapinoe said. "... I made a chance out of it. Got a corner kick out of it."
Despite the 18 shots, the Red Stars only got 4 of them on goal. Sky Blue managed 7 shots, 3 at Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson, who earned her second shutout of the season and leads the league in saves.
"It was a pretty exciting 0-0 tie with some end-to-end opportunities," Sky Blue coach Ian Sawyers said. "Obviously, we felt like we could have put a few away, and I'm sure they felt the same way."
Despite the frustration over the lack of scoring, there was joy in the opportunity to play.
"Obviously, it's just an amazing experience," said Sky Blue midfielder Jen Buczkowski, an Elk Grove native. "Growing up in the area, I've gone to Soldier Field to watch the Fire play. Obviously, I've come here the last couple of years. To finally have that experience myself is just unbelievable."
"It's really special for us to have 6,000-7,000 fans for our first home game when it's pouring down rain and it's freezing outside and they stay 20 minutes after just to get your autograph," Rapinoe added. "I think we have the best fans in the league thus far. Get out here on a sunny day and I think there will be more of them. It's really cool to know that this city backs us so strongly on a day like this. We're very appreciative."