Boston Legacy FC suffered a 2-0 defeat against the Chicago Stars Saturday. The fifth consecutive loss keeps the team at the bottom of the table with zero points.
The team took the field in a 3-4-3 formation with Casey Murphy in goal and Emerson Elgin, Laurel Ansbrow, and Bianca St-Georges on the defensive line. Josefine Hasbo, Amanda Gutierres, Annie Karich, and Alba Caño took the middle, and Sammy Smith, Aïssata Traoré, and Nichelle Prince were positioned at the top.
The match statistics reflect what head coach Filipa Patão says her team has been working on: keeping possession, a higher press, and getting into the box.
Boston held 58% possession throughout the match. The Legacy took 17 shots in the first half, the most they had taken in the entirety of any of their previous games. They finished with a total of 27 shots, 22 of them from inside the box.
And yet they still could not find the back of the net.
“I think we're lacking that composure in the final third right now,” Prince told The Blazing Musket after the game. “We want it bad right now, but we need to kind of channel that into … more confidence in front of the goal.”
The Stars were limited to three shots in each half. Jordyn Huitema scored Chicago’s opening goal when the ball was deflected her way during a corner kick early in the first half. The Stars exploited the Swans’ high backline at the start of the second and sent a long ball to the halfway line. Boston was unable to drop quickly enough and left Nádia Gomes free to score on her breakaway.
Patão was visibly frustrated after the match. Though the improvements on the field were obvious, it will always come down to the final scoreline.
“Football is about scoring goals,” she said postgame. “It’s not about positioning, it’s not about performance.”
The team will continue focusing on better execution in the box, and Patão will also need to make sure morale is high despite the losses.
Prince admitted that the feelings that come after a loss are challenging to face, but the team still has belief that they’ll keep improving.
Patão often says she does not celebrate small wins, and the same goes for dwelling on shortcomings. The key is to look toward the future and work on what you can change.
“[We’ll take] 24 hours to cry, and after [we] get up and continue to try,” Patão said. “We need to be a team that thinks that we’ll win in the next one.”
BLFC will host the North Carolina Courage on Wednesday and fellow expansion side Denver Summit the following Sunday.
