Wednesday, July 1 - Chicago Red Stars vs. Washington Freedom
8:30 pm ET – WEBCAST at www.chicagoredstars.com
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL

The season is now for the Chicago Red Stars. Mired in a nine-game winless streak and 403-minute goalless streak, the Red Stars host the fourth-placed Washington Freedom, which currently holds the final WPS playoff position with just over a month of the regular season still to play.  A win by Chicago puts them at 14 points, just two points back of Washington and right in the thick of the playoff hunt, while a loss could be devastating to their playoff chances, as Washington would move eight points clear of Chicago.

The Red Stars were steamrolled by the Los Angeles Sol 4-0 on Saturday. And while they did hold an edge on shot margin 17-12 to the Sol, they only managed four of those 17 shots on goal as Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc was not forced to make a single save in the second half.

In the two previous match-ups between Chicago and Washington, the teams drew 1-1 and 0-0 in Washington. In both games, Chicago had a player sent-off in the second half: Frida Ostberg in the opening game for two yellow cards and Karen Carney in the second game for a rough tackle on Abby Wambach. Those results with 10 players on the field could bode well for the Red Stars as they fought to earn a point in both but their performance at home might not: they have collected just four of their 11 points on the season at home and the team’s only win at home, 4-0 over Boston, was back on April 25.

The Washington Freedom have tightened things up on defense lately but have also had problems finding the back of the net. They went 1-2-1 in the month of June and scored just two goals in four games after losing a pivotal game to Boston last Wednesday on the road giving Boston sole possession of second place in the WPS Standings.