Ella Stevens scored her fourth goal of the season as the Chicago Red Stars defeated the San Diego Wave 1-0 on Saturday night at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
Both teams had early chances. San Diego’s Rachel Hill struck the right post on a breakaway in the 17th minute. Bianca St. Georges hit the post on the other end in the 22nd.
Just before halftime, Stevens got her head on Tatumn Milazzo’s cross, powering the ball into the goal.
Five Wave players departed this week to prepare for the World Cup and were unavailable for the match: Naomi Girma (U.S.), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden), Alex Morgan (U.S.), Kailen Sheridan (Canada) and Emily van Egmond (Australia).
The Red Stars were without three international players: Jill Aguilera (Puerto Rico), Cheyna Matthews (Jamaica) and Alyssa Naeher (U.S.).
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Red Stars (4-9-1). Goalkeeper Emily Boyd, subbing in for Naeher, made four saves to earn the shutout. It was the third straight loss for San Diego (6-6-2).
Facundo Torres scored a goal in each half to propel Orlando City to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night in Orlando, Fla.
Orlando City (8-5-7) has gone unbeaten in six straight matches at home, tying a club record.
Orlando City took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a goal by Torres in the 38th minute. Kyle Smith and Martín Ojeda picked up assists on Torres’ sixth goal of the season.
Torres struck again in the 55th minute on a penalty kick to stretch Orlando City’s lead to 2-0.
The Fire (5-7-8) cut their deficit in half on a penalty kick by Xherdan Shaqiri in the 66th minute. It was Shaqiri’s second score of the season.
Ramiro Enrique gave Orlando City a two-goal lead again when he took passes from Iván Angulo and Rafael Santos and scored his second goal of the season.
Pedro Gallese saved two shots for Orlando City. Chris Brady totaled six saves for the Fire.
Orlando City, which improved to 4-1-5 in its last 10 matches, beat the Fire for a fourth straight time at home. The Fire posted a 2-0-3 mark in their first five trips to Orlando.
The Fire were aiming for their first three-match winning streak on the road since May 2009.
Orlando City will host Toronto FC on Tuesday. The Fire return home to host Nashville SC on Saturday.
