Katie Atkinson's Five Saves Hold Bay FC to a 0-0 Draw With Chicago Stars

Three times somebody thought she had scored in Evanston on Sunday evening. Three times the offside flag went up. And when Claire Hutton finally got a clean look, the crossbar said no.

Chicago Stars FC and Bay FC played to a 0-0 draw at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, a result that halted losing skids on both sides and owed plenty to Chicago goalkeeper Katie Atkinson, who made five saves. Bay finished with 14 shots and five on target. Chicago managed one shot on target all night, and it still walked away with a point.

A First Half That Belonged to Chicago

For 45 minutes, the Stars were the livelier team. Brianna Pinto, wearing the captain's armband, fired a shot just wide on a sixth-minute break, Leila Ouahabi sent a free kick high in the eighth, and Jameese Joseph missed high and wide in the 11th. Taylor Wood had three attempts before the break, none of which found the frame, and Chicago outshot Bay 9-4 in the first half, per the club.

The Stars thought they had the opener just before the half-hour mark, Bay's recap said, only for the offside flag to cancel it. Moments later Bay forward Alex Pfeiffer had the same experience at the other end, finishing a left-footed strike and then watching the flag go up.

Joseph produced Chicago's only shot on target of the match in the 35th minute, a header from the middle of the box that Jordan Silkowitz pushed away. Bay's best first-half look came in the 41st, when Joelle Anderson met a Kennedy Fuller cross from point-blank range and Atkinson somehow got down to her bottom right corner to save it.

Bay Flips the Script

Whatever Bay coach Emma Coates said at halftime worked. Bay outshot Chicago 10-4 after the break and dictated almost all of the danger. In the 52nd minute Keira Barry sent Pfeiffer through, and Atkinson clawed her shot out of the top left corner. A minute later Aldana Cometti fired wide off the ensuing corner. Fuller missed narrowly in the 62nd, and Barry headed a Fuller corner just wide in the 64th.

Then came the closest call of the night. In the 70th minute Pfeiffer crossed and Hutton met it first time from the center of the box. The ball clipped the crossbar and went over. Three minutes later Fuller let fly from outside the box, and Atkinson was there again.

Coates threw on Karlie Lema and Caroline Conti in the 79th minute, and Lema nearly won it. Bay's recap said she headed in a long cross at the back post with about four minutes left, only for the offside flag to go up after the ball was already in the net. In stoppage time she kept coming: Atkinson saved her shot from distance in the 95th minute, Lema dragged a left-footed effort just wide in the 97th, and in the 98th Atkinson stood up to one more shot from the center of the box. Seven minutes of added time, and Bay could not find the one moment it needed.

Atkinson and Hayashi Hold the Line

Atkinson was the reason this finished level. Five saves, including four after halftime, and at least two of them on shots that looked destined for the corners. On a night when Chicago's attack went quiet after the break, its goalkeeper made sure the scoreboard stayed quiet too.

The Stars handed Star of the Match honors to Manaka Hayashi, and the numbers back it up. Chicago credited the midfielder with five tackles, eight duels won, five possessions won and two chances created across the full 90 minutes. Defender Sam Staab, on at halftime for Anna Gasper, made her 150th NWSL regular-season appearance, and Gasper made her first NWSL start in a Stars shirt since Chicago signed her from Benfica on July 9.

For Bay, Fuller was the creative hub, putting one of her two shots on target and setting up chances for Anderson, Barry and, deep in stoppage time, Lema. Lema herself fired three shots off the bench, two on target. And defender Heather Gilchrist, a 72nd-minute replacement for Anderson, made her first professional appearance, according to Bay.

Chicago's night did end on a sour note. Mallory Swanson, introduced in the 57th minute, went off injured in the 90th, with Jenna Bike replacing her.

The Turning Point

The 70th minute. Bay had been building for 25 minutes and had finally pried Chicago open, and Hutton's first-time finish was a few inches from turning all that pressure into three points. Instead it hit the bar, the Stars survived, and the rest of the night produced only offside flags, near misses and Atkinson saves.

Stats That Matter

• Saves: Atkinson 5, Silkowitz 1.
• Shots on target: Bay 5, Chicago 1, from 14 and 13 total attempts.
• Offsides: Bay was caught 7 times, Chicago twice.
• Interceptions: Bay 16, Chicago 6.
• Possession: Chicago 52.2 percent, Bay 47.8.

What It Means

Bay moves to 5-4-9 with 19 points, and its own recap noted the point snapped a three-match losing streak, after defeats to Houston, Gotham and Seattle. Coates did not sound satisfied.

"I feel we could've come here and taken all three points if I know that we were at our best," Coates said, before adding, "I think the positive is that we're coming home with a point, and every point's important."

Chicago moves to 4-1-13 with 13 points. The draw is the Stars' first of the season, it stopped a four-match losing run, and it was their first clean sheet since a 1-0 win at Bay on May 24. That means Chicago is unbeaten in two meetings with Bay this season. The Stars visit Seattle Reign FC at Lumen Field on Friday, Aug. 14, and Bay heads to Sandy, Utah, the same night to face the Utah Royals.

Closing Take

Some 0-0 draws are boring. This one played like a video game level where Bay reached the exit three times and got sent back to the checkpoint every time. Bay did almost everything right in the second half except the part that counts, and Atkinson made sure Chicago walked out with a point it will gladly take.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and additional details from BayFC.com, with further match notes from ChicagoStars.com.