**Bridgeview, Illinois** – The Chicago Red Stars thrashed the Kansas City Current, 4-0, in the second of two games across the league on Wednesday night, ending the Current’s impressive 13 game winning streak and helping keep the gap wide enough between them and playoff spot chasers Angel City FC and the North Carolina Courage.
The hosts jumped off the mark extremely early with back-to-back goals in the fifth and eighth minutes of the game. In the fifth minute, it was defender Tatumn Milazzo who helped bundle the ball over the line after the Red Stars had earned a corner via midfielder Danielle Colaprico. The delivery in was a good one, but as the ball fell to the ground Milazzo was first to see it and poked it home past Kansas City goalkeeper Cassie Miller to lift her side into the lead.
Then, just three minutes later, the Red Stars went end-to-end as forward Mallory Pugh burst into the Kansas City half and left every Current defender in the dust as she rolled the ball past Miller for her side’s second goal in short stead. Defender Zoe Morse spotted the run of Pugh in space just inside her own half and fed the forward. For Pugh, it was a spectacular sprint that spanned most of the field that led her to beating a few defenders and drawing Miller away from her net, rounding the goalkeeper and burying the chance to complete an impressive play.
Kansas City did well to respond with chances for forward Claire Lavogez and midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta in the 23 ^rd and 38 ^th minutes respectively, but the clearest cut chance for another goal in the first half actually came in the second minute of added time for Chicago’s Bianca St-Georges. A ball in from the left side of the field was played into the box with St-Georges standing near the center of the top of the box. As the cross came in, though, a Current defender failed to properly clear it leaving St-Georges in space for a shot. Aiming toward the top left corner with her effort, though, this time Miller did very well to parry it over and out for a corner that ultimately produced nothing.
At the break, the hosts Chicago held a commanding two-goal lead despite a few attempted responses from Kansas City in the opening half.
Into the second half, the Current kept knocking at Chicago’s door, only for the Red Stars to end up finding their third goal of the night right on the hour mark as Pugh tallied her brace on the evening. Using her pace again, Pugh picked up a loose ball right on the edge of midfield and sprinted into the Current half as she closed in on goal. With a defender failing to get in front of her in time, Pugh cut inside just before she reached the penalty area and curled a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner. Though Miller did her best to keep the effort out, the ball landed inside the side netting as Chicago went three to the good and helped to all but close the door on the encounter.
For good measure, though, Chicago would add a fourth goal on the night in the 72 ^nd minute as the Red Stars capitalized again on a corner kick move that saw defender Amanda Kowalski power a headed effort into the back of the net. On corner kick duty, Pugh was able to add an assist to her two goals as she lifted her cross toward the back post where a nearly unmarked Kowalski was waiting to head home from close range and gift the Red Stars another goal.
At the fulltime whistle, Kansas City was unlucky to not have scored on the night overall, but it was an emphatic win for the Red Stars who scored four and kept a clean sheet in the process. The victory snaps Kansas City’s 13-game unbeaten run, while Chicago is now unbeaten in their last three with two of those games being 4-0 wins.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights