CHICAGO – One of the things that fans of the National Women’s Soccer League have come to expect out of the club from Chicago over the past decade is to see them in the postseason.
After all, the Red Stars have been as consistent of a club as any in the entire league when it comes to making it to the elimination round.
In the last six full NWSL seasons, they’ve earned a berth in the playoffs, doing so from 2015-2019 and then again in 2021. In the last two full seasons, the Red Stars have made the league’s championship game, and even in 2020, they made the NWSL Challenge Cup final as well.
“I think that’s what makes the Red Stars so special and why I really had hoped to come to this club at some point was because of the success they’ve had on the field,” said forward Rachel Hill, and the quest to keep that going starts this weekend.
The Red Stars will face the Thorns in Portland at 3 PM on Sunday afternoon in their penultimate match of the 2022 NWSL season. At the moment, they are on the outside looking in at the playoffs as they sit in seventh place behind the North Carolina Courage by a point after they picked up a win over Gotham FC on Saturday.
After the Portland match, the club will face Angel City FC on October 2nd at SeatGeek Stadium, with six potential points at stake that could make all the difference in a tight playoff race. Sunday will be difficult for the Red Stars as Portland has been near the top of the standings all season long and currently sits in second place.
“Looking back throughout the whole season, really, anybody can beat anyone on any given day in this league. We know that we’re plenty capable of going there and having a good performance and winning, and it can always go the other way,” said Hill. “So I think going into this weekend with a lot of excitement and a lot of confidence knowing that we are plenty capable of going there and getting a result.”
The Red Stars pursuit to keep their playoff streak alive was featured in the “Friday Feature” on WGN News Now this week along with a lengthy talk with Hill about the club. She also discussed reaching 100 appearances in the NWSL, which includes the last three seasons with the Red Stars.
Watch Larry Hawley’s story in the video above.
