The good news going into Wednesday’s semi-final match with Sky Blue FC was that the Red Stars had only conceded three goals through 5 games. The bad news, they had only scored two on their own.
However, throughout the tournament, Red Stars coach Rory Dames kept insisting his team was close to breaking through offensively. With two goals in the opening 11 minutes and adding a third at the hour mark, it is safe to say he was correct.
Sky Blue got back into the game late with two goals in 5 minutes, but the Red Stars went back to their stout ways defensively and held on to advance to the NWSL Challenge Cup final with a 3-2 victory over Sky Blue FC.