The Wait Is Over

The Wait Comes To An End

Jordan Angeli: Today's starting lineups, presented by Allstate. First for the Boston Breakers.

Jordan handed the microphone to Julie King, who started. "The captain, number 8, Julie King." She then passed the mic to the next player in line. "Number 5, Sam Mewis." "Number 13, Abby Mewis." "In goal, number 1, Stephanie Labbe." "Number 2, Allysha Chapman." "Number 4, Megan Oyster." "Number 11, Rose Lavelle." "Number 15, Sarah Troccoli." "Number 17, Jessie Fleming." "Number 21, Midge Purce." "Number 25, Morgan Andrews."

Jordan retrieved the microphone from Morgan and brought it to the front. "And now, the Chicago Red Stars." She gave the mic to Alyssa Naeher to begin the introductions.

"Captain and in goal, number 1, Alyssa Naeher." "Number 9, Stephanie McCaffrey." "Number 19, Kristie McCaffrey." "Number 10, Vanessa DiBernardo." "Number 11, Sofia Huerta." "Number 4, Katie Naughton." "Number 5, Cari Roccaro." "Number 3, Arin Gilliland." "Number 6, Casey Short." "Number 8, Sarah Stratigakis." "Number 24, Danielle Colaprico."

Jordan: The teams are just about to walk out. Let's send it up to the booth to today's announcing team, Jenn Hildreth, Aly Wagner, and Cat Whitehill.

Jenn Hildreth: Thank you, Jordan. Ladies, these two teams have had a pair of tightly-fought matches this year, with the Red Stars defeating Boston 2-1 on March 26th in the final of the Hollywood Studios NWSL Cup and the sides battling to a 1-1 draw in Boston on April 23rd. Boston was the dominant team in the league all season, but weren't able to solve the puzzle known as the Red Stars' midfield. Cat, how do the Breakers seize the moment here to win its first-ever league title?

Cat Whitehill: This team has two players in the starting lineup that weren't on the field in either of the previous matches, Abby Dahlkemper, I mean Mewis, and Sarah Troccoli. If they play as they have since coming into the first XI, the upgrade will be enough to swing the edge to Boston.

Jenn: And Aly, what must Chicago do to actually breach a Breakers' defense that hasn't been scored on in any form since July 30th, and not at all when the two Mewises, Megan Oyster, and Steph Labbe have been on the field together?

Aly Wagner: It starts with Steph McCaffrey. She needs to be aggressive up front. It's not required that she score, but much like in last week's game against LA, she needs to be a pest in the penalty area.

The two teams were led out onto the field by referee Karen Abt and her crew. Alyssa and Julie, in a display of love, walked out holding hands. The rest of the couples in the starting lineups were linked together, with one partner's hand on the other's shoulder. Once the players were at midfield, the teams were introduced to the sell-out crowd at Toyota Park. Following the national anthem, the players exchanged pleasantries with one another, some exchanging hugs, others handshakes, and the two captains pecking one another on the cheek.

As Shannon Smyth had predicted and John had worked on on Wednesday, Fleming was playing as the nominal left midfielder and Andrews had taken up the center position. Soon after the Breakers kicked off, Fleming had made a move on her fellow Canadian and then cut in on Gilliland to fire a shot that Naeher was able to smother. Around the 10-minute mark, the Red Stars adjusted their midfield alignment, holding Stratigakis back a little to handle Fleming and pressing Kristie McCaffrey ahead a bit. This resulted in Lavelle being sucked up too far and McCaffrey jetting around her with the ball. A cross from the left-footed midfielder was picked out of the air by Labbe. She rolled the ball out to King, who passed it onto Sam Mewis, who then moved it forward to Andrews who had switched positions with Fleming. Her pass back to Chapman was fired crisply to Lavelle streaking into the center of the park. Andrews and Fleming criss-crossed and Lavelle hit Fleming with a one-time pass between Stratigakis and Colaprico. The Canadian number 10 blew past Gilliland and got to the end line. With Andrews on the inside, she crashed the box, diverting Roccaro and Naugton's attention toward the center of the box. Fleming's cross was headed by Troccoli at the near post and flew into the opposite upper corner, giving Boston the lead after 21 minutes. The Red Stars' first foray following the restart came from Huerta pushing outside on the right and working Chapman into a lather, which caused the sometimes ill-tempered defender to chop her down, resulting in a free kick and a yellow card. DiBernardo's free kick landed at Steph McCaffrey's feet, but she couldn't get a strike on the ball and it slid through the six-yard box and out-of-bounds, giving Boston a goal kick. The Breakers nearly doubles the advantage when an Abby Mewis corner kick was headed on by her other half, causing Naeher to make a fingertip save to push the ball over the bar. The resulting corner from Andrews sailed past Sam Mewis and Troccoli and went out-of-bounds for a throw-in. Abt brought the first half to a close after three minutes of added time.

In the locker rooms, the two head coaches encouraged their teams to take advantage of the opposition's uncertainty about their positioning, then let the skippers take over.

Julie King: Ladies, we are 45 minutes away from achieving something that NO Breakers team has been able to do since its founding in 2001, win a league championship. Believe in the process, and play your hearts out in the second half.

Alyssa Naeher: We were in this exact same position against Boston at the NWSL Cup in March, down 1-0 at the half. We were able to turn that game around and go out winners, 2-1. Let's do it again and make the city shut down Michigan Avenue for our victory parade on Tuesday.

Both teams exited their locker room excited and ready to fight to the last second in pursuit of the title. The Red Stars' formation to start the second 45 had Colaprico and DiBernardo side-by-side, hoping that it would free up Stratigakis and Kristie McCaffrey on the flanks to play higher and more face-to-face with the Breakers' outside backs. The first 15 minutes of the second half was very cat-and-mouse, with both teams stout defensively. The Red Stars made their first substitution of the match on 62 minutes, bringing on Gabrielle Carle for Kristie McCaffrey and going to a 4-3-3 with DiBernardo and Colaprico behind the trip of Stratigakis, Steph McCaffrey, and Huerta and Carle as the deep-lying midfielder. A minute later, Caitlyn DiSarcina was with the fourth official prepared to enter the match. A free kick on the left side of the field, around 23 yards from the endline, was taken by Fleming. Her floater was punched out by Naeher, then headed by Roccaro directly into the path of Andrews, whose one-time shot zipped past the screened goalkeeper and provided some insurance for the regular season champions. Before the game was re-started, DiSarcina came on for Abby Mewis, moving Sam Mewis to the back line and Troccoli to defensive midfield. Cole sent on Sophia Smith for Colaprico and Kat Stephens for Stratigakis, putting the comeback in the hands of the eleven players now on the field. Herdman tightened up his midfield by bringing on Lindsey Elston for Purce, leaving DiSarcina as the lone striker. As the clock passed 85 minutes, the two sets of fresh legs for the Red Stars could not make much of an impact against Troccoli, Mewis, and Oyster. A strike from Lavelle was puched away by a diving Naeher, deflecting off the back of Gilliland's leg and out for a corner kick. Fleming walked over to the corner flag and struck the set piece solidly, with Sam Mewis making contact with the ball and putting it just under the crossbar for the Breakers' third goal. In celebration, she ran toward the Boston bench and blew her soon-to-be-wife a kiss, then did a "rock the baby" display for her, getting a giggle and an air kiss in return. Jenni Santacaterina was subbed on to replace Jessie Fleming, who left to a round of applause from the crowd. She was put into the defensive midfield slot, moving Troccoli up to center mid and Andrews out to the left. The four minutes of added time shown by fourth official Alexandria White-Gillies seemed to drag on forever for the Breakers as the players on the bench with the exception of Abby were prepared to rush the field at the final whistle. Following a Steph Labbe punt, Abt brought the match to a conclusion.

Chicago 0 Boston 3 (Troccoli/Fleming, Andrews/Fleming, S. Mewis/Fleming)