New coach. New result.
But not a win.
Four days after coach Lorne Donaldson was fired and replaced by interim coach Masaki Hemmi, the Chicago Stars had their first tie of the year with a 0-0 road draw against Gotham on May 4 in NWSL action.
Goalie Alyssa Naeher notched her 45th regular-season clean sheet against Gotham (3-2-3), which is an NWSL record for shutouts with one club.
The Stars (1-5-1) parted ways with Donaldson on April 30. General manager Richard Feuz said Donaldson brought “joy,” “self-confidence” and the culture back.
But the record turned out to be the bottom line.
“At some point, the team needed to go in another direction,” Feuz said.
Feuz said he had no timeline to name a new coach so Hemmi, one of Donaldson’s assistants, appears to have a good chunk of time for an audition.
“We need to find the consistency within the group and quite frankly, I think the team is improving,” Hemmi said. “The past few games, I don’t think the result tells the whole story and we were creating chances.
“But it’s been really hard for us to score goals.”
It’s been a wild week in Stars camp.
“It wasn’t easy for all of us because he is such a great person,” Hemmi said of Donaldson. “We all loved him. But we have a task at hand and I’m proud of the reaction and mindset of the players and to try to be professional in these moments and to try to get the job done.”
The Stars host Washington (4-3-0) at 11:50 a.m. May 10 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
Scoreless draw for Fire, too
The Chicago Fire remained winless in six games, but the 0-0 tie with Orlando City on May 3 in MLS action at Soldier Field could have been worse.
The Fire (3-4-4) played a man down for a majority of the match. Goalie Chris Brady received a red card at the 36th minute. But the team was able to score a point and avoid a loss against Orlando (4-2-5), which has played four scoreless draws in the last five games.
Jeff Gal made his MLB debut in the net and teamed with the defense to keep Orlando off the board after Brady’s departure.
Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps made his first start. At age 16 years and 342 days, he is the youngest player in Fire history to start a game.
The Fire were scheduled for a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game against Memphis on May 7 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. They return to MLS action at 1:30 p.m. May 10 hosting Atlanta at Soldier Field.
Fire II win in new venue
The Chicago Fire II played the first home game outside SeatGeek Stadium in franchise history and snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over Orlando City B on May 2 in an MSL NXT Pro game at UIC’s Flames Field .
Chicago’s Peter Soudan, Jason Shokalook, Jean Diouf, Justin Reynolds and Dean Boltz all scored their first goals of the season for the Fire (3-4-0).
It’s hazy where the Fire II will play their remaining games. One X post has the Fire playing the remaining games of their schedule at Flames Field. However, the May 9 matchup with Cincinnati is listed on the website schedule as a 2 p.m. game in Bridgeview. The remaining 10 games are listed as to be determined.
Hounds snap losing streak
The Chicago Hounds snapped a two-game losing streak with a 14-7 Major League Rugby victory over Miami on May 4 at SeatGeek Stadium.
Miami (5-6-0) scored in the 50th minute, but Luke White and Dylan Fawsitt each scored goals for the Hounds (8-3-0).
The Hounds visit the two-time defending champion New England Free Jacks at 3 p.m. May 10.
Opening night for T-bolts
The Frontier League’s Windy City ThunderBolts will open their home schedule on May 9 against the Washington Wild Things at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, one day after their season opener on the road against the Schaumburg Boomers.
