The Chicago Red Stars got back to winning ways thanks to a historic three-goal performance from Sam Kerr. The Red Stars defeated Sky Blue FC 3-1 at Yurcak Field in Week 15. The three points for the Red Stars briefly pushed them to second place in the standings and a 6-4-7 overall record with 25 points […]

The Chicago Red Stars got back to winning ways thanks to a historic three-goal performance from Sam Kerr. The Red Stars defeated Sky Blue FC 3-1 at Yurcak Field in Week 15. The three points for the Red Stars briefly pushed them to second place in the standings and a 6-4-7 overall record with 25 points (but once Week 15 concluded Saturday night, the Red Stars were in fourth place). Sky Blue FC now hold the record for the longest winless streak in NWSL history at 14 games. Entering this match Sky Blue was tied with the 2013 Washington Spirit for having the longest winless streak. Sky Blue remain in last place in the standings at 0-11-3 and three points. Kerr became the first NWSL player to score three hat tricks. This is the 14th hat trick in league history. Saturday’s performance came nearly one year to the day of another memorable Kerr hat trick on the very same field. Last year, her three goal performance led her former team, Sky Blue FC, to a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over FC Kansas City. It was only fitting that the forward in her return to New Jersey scored a hat trick. Kerr’s Week 15 performance also pushed her to eight goals on the season to lead the league and she became the first NWSL player to score 50 career goals. Kerr scored her first goal of the night in the 40th minute. Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher played a long service over Sky Blue FC’s backline into forward Alyssa Mautz. Mautz served a ball towards the top of the box to Kerr, who settled it and finished in the lower left corner for the 1-0 lead. [Empty Body] It was Kerr again who doubled the Red Stars lead to start the second half. Yuki Nagasato played Kerr over the top from midfield and Kerr collected it and finished far post past Sky Blue FC goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the 2-0 lead. This goal marked the historic 50 goal mark for Kerr who became the first NWSL player to score 50 career goals. [Empty Body] The 2017 NWSL Golden Boot and MVP winner didn’t stop there. In the 63rd minute she finished her third of the night. Nagasato played Kerr into space and Kerr finished in the left corner to extend her team’s lead to 3-0. Kerr finished the game with 10 shots with six on target. She also made three key passes on the night. [Empty Body] Sky Blue got on the board in the 73rd minute off of a solid team build up that eventually resulted in forward Imani Dorsey scoring her first NWSL career goal. Carli Lloyd played Savannah McCaskill, who slipped in a pass to Dorsey in the box. Dorsey slotted it in to get her team on the scoreboard at home. [Empty Body] The rookie finished the game with a team-high three shots and three on target. Sky Blue had nine shots and the Red Stars had 17. The Red Stars also had the better of the possession on the night with 56.5% to Sky Blue’s 43.5 %. This match up also continued the Red Stars all-time winning record over Sky Blue FC. Sky Blue has never defeated the Red Stars in all 14 meetings between the teams. Chicago has now won six times and the teams have played to a tie on eight occasions. Sky Blue will look for their first win of the season when they face the league-leading North Carolina Courage on Saturday in Week 16 action. The Red Stars will also return to play next Saturday when they host Seattle Reign FC. [Empty Body] This story will be updated