CHICAGO – The weekend on the diamond went different ways for the city’s baseball teams, with the Cubs taking 2-of-3 from the Diamondbacks while the White Sox dropped 3-of-4 to the red-hot Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field.
But that was just part of the weekend in Chicago sports which featured a number of local teams in action. WGN News Now covers a few in the “Weekend That Was” for May 16, 2022.
–
Courtney Vandersloot came through for the Chicago Sky late to help the team get over the .500 mark for the first time in the 2022 regular season.
Up by one against the Lynx in Minneapolis on Saturday night, the guard knocked down a three-pointer with 38 seconds left to push the advantage up to four as the Sky won it 82-78 to go to 2-1 on the season. Vandersloot finished with 16 points with 11 assists with Emma Meesseman leading the way with 17 along with a team-high seven rebounds.
Azura Stevens had 14 points with Candace Parker adding 11 while rookie Rebekah Gardner followed up a 14-point performance against the Liberty with ten points against the Lynx.
The Sky will continue their three-game road trip on Wednesday when they face the Storm at 9 PM.
–
In a match-up of Illinois’ AHL franchises, it was the one that calls Rosemont home that came out on top.
After winning the first two games of their Calder Cup Playoffs Central Division Semifinals series at Allstate Arena, the Chicago Wolves finished off the sweep of the IceHogs with a 4-1 win in Rockford on Sunday afternoon.
It completed a dominant series for the division champions as they outscored their in-state rivals 14-4 in the three contests, scoring a 6-2 win in Game 1 then a 4-1 victory in Game 2 in Rosemont. Ivan Lodnia notched a first period goal with CJ Smith getting a score in the second to put Chicago in the lead. Jack Drury and Andrew Porturalski would get scored in the third to finish the sweep.
Now the Wolves will face the
CHICAGO FIRE FC’S woes on the pitch continued as they dropped their fourth-straight MLS match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday. Just like their last home game against the New York Red Bulls on April 30th.
Just like that match, the club watched as their opponent broke a tie in the closing minutes to pull ahead for a 2-1 victory at Soldier Field. Luciano Acosta stole an errant pass from Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina in the 85th minute and would put in a goal a few seconds later to give the visitors the victory.
This came just two minutes after Jhon Durán’s header from a Xherdan Shaqiri corner kick found the back of the net for the equalizer. Cincinnati grabbed the lead earlier in the match on an own goal by defender Rafael Czichos, who tried to head it back to Slonina but put it in the net instead.
Now in last place in the Eastern Conference after the fourth-straight loss, the Fire will face the New York Red Bulls on the road on Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM, which you can watch on WGN-TV, Channel 9.
–
It was a first in a few ways for the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday afternoon both in 2022 and as a club overall.
They were on the road for their maiden road trip of the regular season while also facing San Diego Wave FC for the first time in franchise history. The match came two weeks after the Red Stars’ opening night win over Racing Louisville FC, with their match against the Spirit pushed back to June after Washington qualified for the Challenge Cup title match.
The Wave got on the board with an Alex Morgan penalty kick goal then added to it with a score by Kaleigh Riehl in the 88th minute. Despite Ava Cook’s first NWSL goal shortly after that, the Red Stars lost 2-1 as they were defeated for the first time in the regular season.
Chris Petrucelli’s team is back on the road next week as they face the Orlando Pride at Exploria Stadium on Sunday at 4 PM CST.