BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Red Stars put six years of history behind them on Sunday afternoon. In the process, they ended the Portland Thorns season. Behind an eighth-minute goal from Sam Kerr, the second-place finishers in the NWSL’s 2019 regular season advanced to their first league final, defeating the Thorns, 1-0, and triumphing over Portland for the first time since 2013. In the process, they prevented the Thorns from reaching a third-straight final.
“I’m just hurt, disappointed, upset,” head coach Mark Parsons said, after the game. “I’m upset for this group. I know the regular season hadn’t finished the way we could have liked it, but … we felt very, very good about drawing the line and coming in here against a team we also have good history (against).