Mallory Swanson Hands Chicago Stars First Road Win of 2026 as Nine-Player Bay FC Falls 1-0

Bay FC played almost all of Sunday afternoon a player down and more than the final half hour two players down. It still took a halftime substitute and one clean finish for the Chicago Stars to break through.

Mallory Swanson came off the bench at the break and scored in the 70th minute, and the Chicago Stars beat Bay FC 1-0 at PayPal Park after Bay had defender Aldana Cometti and goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz sent off. It was Chicago's first road win of the season, according to the club, and it ended a four-match losing streak during which the Stars had not scored at all. A crowd of 12,015 watched Bay try to survive the math and come up one goal short.

Down to Ten in 12 Minutes

Bay actually started well. Claire Hutton fired over in the second minute, Katie Atkinson saved from Taylor Huff in the ninth, and Atkinson had to stop Caroline Conti from close range in the 11th. Then everything changed. Jordyn Huitema got in behind the Bay defense, Cometti lunged in just outside the box, and the referee showed her a straight red card in the 12th minute. Chicago's recap said the foul denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Silkowitz kept the score level from the resulting free kick, diving to deny Brianna Pinto. She was busy all half, also stopping Ryan Gareis from a tight angle in the 24th minute and Sam Staab from more than 35 yards in the 29th.

Bay thought it had the opener in the 39th minute. Huff combined with Cristiana Girelli, got into space in front of goal and finished cleanly, but after a video review the goal was taken off the board for Girelli being offside in the buildup. Bay's recap called it a controversial decision. Girelli was flagged offside five times in all, so it was that kind of day for her. The half ended scoreless after seven minutes of stoppage time, with Chicago's recap counting four first-half shots on target for the Stars to Bay's two.

The Turning Point: Down to Nine

Both coaches changed things at halftime. Bay sent on Racheal Kundananji for Karlie Lema, and Chicago introduced Swanson for Jameese Joseph. Huitema nearly struck first after the break, heading just over from close range in the 51st minute.

Then came the moment that tilted the field for good. In the 62nd minute Silkowitz handled the ball outside her penalty area while trying to play out of pressure, and she was sent off too. Bay had to sacrifice Girelli in the 65th minute so Emmie Allen could go in goal, making her season debut in the toughest possible circumstances.

Five minutes later Chicago found the breakthrough. Swanson received the ball on the right, cut inside and drove a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner, with Maitane providing the assist. The Stars said it was Swanson's first goal of the season and Maitane's first assist of 2026.

Bay Refuses to Go Quietly

Nine players should not be able to make a game of it. Bay did anyway. Atkinson had to make three saves in three minutes, stopping Hannah Bebar in the 72nd, Kundananji in the 73rd and Bebar again in the 74th. Coates threw on Kelli Hubly and Dorian Bailey in the 75th minute, and Allen held up her end at the other goal, saving efforts from Manaka Hayashi in the 83rd minute and Julia Grosso in the 86th.

Swanson went off injured early in stoppage time, replaced by Ivonne Chacón, and eight added minutes stretched the drama. The cards kept coming, too, with Hayashi, Maddie Moreau and even Atkinson booked in the closing stages. Kundananji fired over in the 93rd minute, Allen denied Gareis in the 98th, and on the final play Bebar crashed a shot from outside the box off the crossbar.

"We kept creating chances, we hit the cross bar, I thought we might have been able to pinch one towards the end of the game," Bay head coach Emma Coates said.

Star Turns

Mallory Swanson needed one shot to win it. That is the whole résumé of a game-winner, and she nailed it.

Katie Atkinson made five saves for Chicago, including the three-in-three sequence that killed Bay's best spell. The Stars said it was her second clean sheet of the season.

Ryan Gareis was Chicago's most active attacker, with four shots and three on target.

Hannah Bebar led Bay with four shots, put two on target and hit the bar with the last kick of the game.

Emmie Allen walked into a mess and made three saves in her first appearance of the season.

Stats That Matter

• Short-handed volume: Bay outshot Chicago 15 to 14 despite playing from the 12th minute on with ten or fewer players.
• Accuracy: Chicago put eight shots on target to Bay's five.
• Bay's goalkeepers: Silkowitz and Allen combined for seven saves.
• Flags: Bay was caught offside six times, five of them Girelli.
• The ball: Chicago held 53.7 percent of possession.

What It Means

Chicago moved to 3-0-8 with 9 points. The Stars had lost four straight and failed to score in any of them, so a 1-0 road win will feel like a lot more than three points. Their previous win was a 2-0 home result against Boston Legacy FC on April 25. Chicago hosts San Diego Wave FC on May 31.

Bay fell to 3-2-5 with 11 points and has lost two in a row without scoring, after the 2-0 defeat at Portland on Wednesday. Bay is winless in four. Next comes a trip to the Orlando Pride on Friday, which the club called its final match ahead of the June international break.

The Closing Take

Bay's afternoon played like a video game level where the developers kept quietly deleting your lives. Down one, then down two, then down a goal, and still swinging until the final whistle. "I thought they had hearts of lions out there today," Coates said. Hearts are great. Bay would also like its full lineup back.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and club notes as reported by Bay FC and the Chicago Stars.