# 2018 Chicago Red Stars season

The 2018 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's tenth season and sixth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. For the fourth consecutive season, the team qualified for the post-season playoffs and lost in the semi-final, as they were defeated by the North Carolina Courage 2–0.

## Team roster
### 2018 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Alyssa Naeher |
| 2 | MF | USA | Nikki Stanton |
| 3 | DF | USA | Arin Gilliland |
| 4 | MF | USA | Alyssa Mautz |
| 5 | DF | USA | Katie Naughton |
| 6 | DF | USA | Casey Short |
| 8 | MF | USA | Julie Ertz |
| 9 | FW | USA | Stephanie McCaffrey |
| 10 | DF | USA | Vanessa DiBernardo |
| 12 | FW | JPN | Yuki Nagasato |
| 13 | MF | USA | Morgan Brian |
| 14 | DF | USA | Sarah Gorden |
| 15 | FW | USA | Michele Vasconcelos |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | USA | Summer Green |
| 20 | FW | AUS | Sam Kerr |
| 21 | GK | USA | Emily Boyd |
| 22 | MF | NZL | Rosie White |
| 23 | MF | USA | Brooke Elby |
| 24 | MF | USA | Danielle Colaprico |
| 25 | MF | USA | Erin Yenney |
| — | GK | USA | Ryann Torrero |
| — | DF | MEX | Christina Murillo |
| — | MF | USA | Jo Boyles |
| — | MF | USA | Chandra Eigenberger |
| — | DF | USA | Zoey Goralski |

## Player transactions
### College draft

    Source: National Women's Soccer League
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Previous Team |
| Round 2 | 15 | Emily Boyd | GK | University of California, Berkeley |
| Round 2 | 18 | Indigo Gibson | D | University of California, Berkeley |
| Round 2 | 19 | Brianna Visalli | M | Pepperdine University |
| Round 3 | 24 | Megan Buckingham | M | University of North Carolina |
| Round 3 | 27 | Zoey Goralski | D | University of California Los Angeles |
| Round 4 | 37 | Alexa Ben | M | DePaul University |

### Transfers in

| Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| January 18, 2018 | Sam Kerr | FW | Sky Blue FC | Acquired in 3-team trade with Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash. |
| January 18, 2018 | Nikki Stanton | MF | Sky Blue FC | Acquired in 3-team trade with Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash. |
| January 30, 2018 | Rosie White | MF | Boston Breakers | Selected with the 7th pick in the Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| January 30, 2018 | Ashton Miller | MF | Boston Breakers | Selected with the 12th pick in the Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| January 30, 2018 | Joanna Boyles | MF | Boston Breakers | Selected with the 25th pick in the Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| June 18, 2018 | Brooke Elby | MF | Utah Royals FC | Acquired in 3-team trade with Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. |
| June 19, 2018 | Morgan Brian | MF | Olympique Lyonnais | Signed. |

### Transfer out

| Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| January 1, 2018 | Morgan Brian | MF | Olympique Lyonnais | Signed with Olympique Lyonnais, Chicago retained her rights in the NWSL |
| January 18, 2018 | Christen Press | FW | Houston Dash | Traded to the Houston Dash as part of a 3-team trade with Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash. |
| January 18, 2018 | Jen Hoy | FW | Sky Blue FC | Traded to Sky Blue FC as part of a 3-team trade with Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash. |
| June 16, 2018 | Lauren Kaskie | MF | Hammarby | Waived, signed with Hammarby |
| June 18, 2018 | Samantha Johnson | DF | Utah Royals FC | Traded to Utah Royals FC as part of a 3-team trade with Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. |
| June 18, 2018 | Sofia Huerta | MF | Houston Dash | Traded to the Houston Dash as part of a 3-team trade with Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. |
| June 18, 2018 | Taylor Comeau | DF | Houston Dash | Traded to the Houston Dash as part of a 3-team trade with Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. |

### Off-season loans

After the 2018 season several Chicago Red Stars players were loaned to clubs of W-League, Australia to play in their 2018-2019 season.
| Player | W-League club |
| Sam Kerr | Perth Glory FC |
| Nikki Stanton | Perth Glory FC |
| Alyssa Mautz | Perth Glory FC |
| Katie Naughton | Perth Glory FC |
| Danielle Colaprico | Sydney FC |
| Yuki Nagasato | Brisbane Roar FC |

## Management and staff
### Front office

* Owner: Arnim Whisler

### Coaching Staff

* Manager: Rory Dames
* Assistant Coach: Craig Harrington
* Assistant Coach: Gary Curneen
* Goalkeeper Coach: Jordi King
* Strength & Conditioning Coach: Evan Johnson
* Volunteer Assistant Coach: Brian Kibler

## Competitions
### League standing

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage (C) | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 57 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 42 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 41 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 37 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 35 | |
| 6 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 30 | |
| 8 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 35 | −23 | 11 | |
| 9 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 52 | −31 | 9 | |

### Weekly ranking

| Week ending | March | March | April | April | April | April | May | May | May | May | June | June | June | June | July | July | July | July | July | August | August | August | August | September | September | September |
| Week ending | X | 25 | 1 | 15 | 22 | 29 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 24 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 22 | 29 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 26 | 2 | 9 | X |
| Week | X | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | X |
| Rank | X | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | X |
| Games | X | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | X |
| Points | X | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 34 | 37 | 37 | X |
Update September 8, 2018 Source: NWSL 2018 season

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: September 8, 2018. Source: NWSLSoccer.com: 2018 Schedule: Chicago Red Stars

### National Women's Soccer League
#### Postseason
## Honors and awards
### NWSL annual awards

| Award | Result | Player |
| Golden Boot | winner | Sam Kerr |
| Most Valuable Player | finalist | Sam Kerr |
| Defender of the Year | finalist | Julie Ertz |
NWSL Best XI :
| Position | First team | First team | Position | Second team | Second team |
| Forward | Sam Kerr | | Defender | Julie Ertz | |

### NWSL Player of the Month

| Month | Result | Player | Ref. |
| April | Won | Sofia Huerta | |
| August | Won | Sam Kerr | |

### NWSL Team of the Month

| Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| April | | | Sofia Huerta | |
| May | | | | |
| June | Alyssa Naeher | | Yuki Nagasato | |
| July | | Katie Naughton | Yuki Nagasato | Sam Kerr |
| August | | | Vanessa DiBernardo | Sam Kerr |

### NWSL Player of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 4 | Won | Sofia Huerta |
| 6 | Won | Alyssa Naeher |
| 10 | Won | Yuki Nagasato |
| 15 | Won | Sam Kerr |
| 22 | Won | Sam Kerr |

### NWSL Goal of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 2 | Nominated | Alyssa Mautz |
| 3 | Nominated | Danielle Colaprico |
| 4 | Nominated | Sofia Huerta |
| 6 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |
| 10 | Nominated | Yuki Nagasato |
| 13 | Nominated | Vanessa DiBernardo |
| 14 | Nominated | Yuki Nagasato |
| 15 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |
| 16 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |
| 20 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |
| 21 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |
| 22 | Nominated | Samantha Kerr |

### NWSL Save of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 1 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 3 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 4 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 6 | Won | Alyssa Naeher |
| 8 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 10 | Nominated | Emily Boyd |
| 11/12 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 15 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 16 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |
| 24 | Nominated | Alyssa Naeher |