Fire II forward Victor Bezerra scored in the team's first win in its history on Sunday in Bridgeview. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Fire

Fire II forward Victor Bezerra scored in the team's first win in its history on Sunday in Bridgeview. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Fire

Pro Soccer Report: Fire II get first win; Red Stars fall to San Diego

Spread the love

By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer

When the soccer world woke up on May 15, the Chicago Fire II had not won an MLS NEXT Pro game and the Chicago Red Stars had not lost a  regular-season game this season.

That all changed late that afternoon.

The Fire II won the first game in their short history with a 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati 2 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, while the Red Stars lost their first game of the young season, 2-1, on the road at expansion San Diego.

Omari Glasgow, Victor Bezerra and Alex Monis scored goals for the Fire (1-3-3, 7 points entering this week).

After some near-misses, the Fire II were pumped to finally get a victory over Cincinnati (1-6-0).

Fire coach Ludovic Taillandier, however, wasn’t totally pleased.

“Look, the first half was, of course, not the best half we’ve had,” he said. “We were not able to connect passes. Then we lost the ball a little silly sometimes and offered, like, a counterattack, turnovers to the opponent. That was, in general, not good enough.

“We are very happy with the result, of course and yeah, the taste of the win is something special that we missed a little bit. And we’re very happy for it.”

The Fire visits New York (3-3-2, 11 points) Saturday and will look for its first road victory in program history.

“We need to work from one game to the other and that’s what we do anyways, from the beginning,” Taillandier said. “We could have won games earlier. It’s always close. This time it was close, but it was positive for us. We will keep trying to develop this style of play based on trying to control the game as much as possible, trying to press them so they cannot play on the ball and trying to have the ball a little more than them.

“We feel this way we control a little bit of the game, that’s what we’re trying to implement and to improve every game.”

Red Stars fall

Ava Cook scored a goal and became the first player to put the ball through the net against the stingy San Diego defense, which came in with two shutouts, but the Red Stars (1-1-0) lost the game, 2-1.

Five rookies played in the game because the Red Stars are having injury and illness problems. That includes an injury to Mallory Pugh, who had four goals in the exhibition season.

Alex Morgan and Kaleigh Riehl scored for San Diego (3-0-0), which is the lone unbeaten team in the NWSL.

“This was a learning experience, but it still hurt,” veteran midfielder Alyssa Mautz said. “We were in this game and it hurts me even more with how close we were.”

“[The players not available] make up a good team,” first-year red Stars coach Chris Petrucelli said. “But our mindset was to win the game. Anyone who wears a jersey wants to win. I thought we had a chance to get one here.”

The Red Stars visit Orlando at 6 p.m. Sunday. Orlando is 1-1-1 and tied Kansas City, 2-2, on May 14. Gunny Jonsdottir scored in the 51st minute and Toni Pressley during extra time for Orlando.

Local News

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Neighbors

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Cyrenthia Threat spent Wednesday morning at a hiring event in Fairview Heights waiting for word on whether she was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.  Threat wants to move to Illinois from Georgia where she works as a social worker. She has 20 years…

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the case of actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted for staging a hate crime against him in 2019 in a case that drew criticism for Cook County’s top prosecutor. Smollett made what turned out to be…

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

By PETER HANCOCK  Capitol News Illinois  phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com  SPRINGFIELD – Illinois continues to suffer from a shortage of teachers and other education professionals, although recent efforts by the state to ease the strain have made an impact.  That’s according to the latest annual survey of school officials from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools,…

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Two bills that would regulate battery disposal and storage are awaiting action from the full Illinois Senate after unanimous committee approval.   Senate Bill 3481, sponsored by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, would require facilities that store electric vehicle batteries to register with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency…

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The longtime chair and a relatively new member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board have resigned, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced Monday. The governor’s office announced the pair’s resignations within hours of each other nearly two weeks after Crosetti Brand was released from Stateville Correctional Center. Brand is…

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

By ALEX ABBEDUTO   Capitol News Illinois  abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com  The night before Rebecca Hooks started at the Illinois State Police Academy in 2002, she spoke on the phone with her father and her brother – both of whom worked in law enforcement.  Her father encouraged her, telling her she was strong and could get through the…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…