Katie Atkinson Makes Eight Saves as Chicago Stars Blank Boston Legacy 2-0

Boston Legacy FC took 28 shots in Evanston on Saturday night. Katie Atkinson had an answer for every one that mattered.

The Chicago Stars goalkeeper made eight saves, Jordyn Huitema and Nádia Gomes supplied the goals, and Chicago beat Boston 2-0 at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. It was the Stars' first clean sheet of the season, per the club, and it snapped a three-match losing streak. For Boston, it was a fifth straight loss to open the season, and the most frustrating one yet: the Legacy did almost everything except the one thing that counts.

An Early Gift, Then a Siege

Boston came out hot. Sammy Smith fired over in the second minute and Amanda Gutierres sent one high and wide a minute later, and for about nine minutes it looked like the Legacy might finally get a fast start.

Then Chicago won a corner. In the 10th minute, according to the Stars, the corner deflected off a Boston player, and Huitema tapped it in with her left foot from very close range. One look, one goal. Per the club, it was her second goal for Chicago in as many matches played.

From there it was a one-way street. Boston kept the ball, kept crossing it and kept shooting. Nichelle Prince missed twice in the first half hour, Gutierres had a shot blocked, and Smith took six shots before halftime. Atkinson started her shift in earnest in the 36th minute, saving a Smith strike in the bottom left corner, and then the final minutes of the half turned into a highlight reel. She saved an Aïssata Traoré shot in the 43rd minute. In the 45th, Alba Caño hit the crossbar, and in the same minute Atkinson stopped Gutierres and then Traoré from very close range. Smith missed the rebound chaos wide right. Boston's own recap called it a frantic sequence, which is a polite way of saying the ball refused to go in.

Somehow, it was still 1-0 at halftime.

Gomes Makes Them Pay

Boston resumed the pressure after the break, with Josefine Hasbo sending a shot just wide in the 49th minute. Two minutes later, Chicago made the Legacy pay for every miss. Ryan Gareis and Gomes broke on a two-on-one, Gareis found Gomes, and Gomes finished with her left foot from the center of the box. 2-0. The Stars say it was her first goal of the season and the third of her career.

The Legacy kept swinging. Atkinson saved from Smith at close range in the 56th minute and from Traoré a minute later, and Boston's triple change around the hour mark brought on Fauzia Najjemba, Bárbara Olivieri and Ella Stevens. Stevens had a header blocked in the 65th minute, Emerson Elgin tested Atkinson from outside the box in the 81st, and Stevens forced one more save, from very close range, in the 90th. Nothing got through.

Chicago lost Huitema in the 71st minute, when Ivonne Chacón replaced her because of an injury, and Jenna Bike came on for Michelle Alozie a minute later. Micayla Johnson replaced Gomes in the 90th minute as the Stars closed it out.

Atkinson Steals the Show

Atkinson's eight saves tied her career high for a single match, according to the Stars. Four came in the first half and four in the second, two of them from very close range. When a team gets outshot 28-6 and still wins by two, the goalkeeper usually deserves the first round.

Huitema and Gomes each scored on their only shot on target, which is the kind of efficiency Chicago needed on a night it managed just six attempts. Gareis added the assist. In front of Atkinson, Chicago's defenders cleared the ball 44 times and made 14 interceptions, while Boston managed just two interceptions all night. The Stars were content to concede the ball and 30 Boston crosses as long as the shooting lanes stayed crowded. The Stars also handed out a couple of milestones: Emma Egizii made her first professional start and Aaliyah Farmer made her first NWSL start, per the club.

On the Boston side, Smith led everyone with eight shots, two on target, and Traoré put three of her five on frame. Neither found a way past Atkinson. Casey Murphy did not have to make a save all night, and still conceded twice.

The Turning Point

The 45th minute. Boston had four attempts in the same minute: Caño off the bar, Gutierres saved, Traoré saved from close range, Smith wide. Score once there and the Legacy go into halftime level with all the momentum. Instead, they walked off still down a goal, and Gomes doubled the lead six minutes into the second half. The Legacy never recovered from that one-minute flurry of bad luck and great goalkeeping.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Boston 28, Chicago 6.
• Shots on target: Boston 8, Chicago 2.
• Saves: Atkinson 8, Murphy 0.
• Possession: Boston 58.2 percent, Chicago 41.8.
• Clearances: Chicago 44, Boston 13.

What It Means

Chicago moves to 2-0-4 with six points and ends a three-game skid that included a home loss to Orlando and road defeats at San Diego and Utah. The win was the Stars' second of the season after their home victory over Kansas City in March, and it opened a three-match homestand, with reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC visiting on Wednesday, April 29, per the club.

Boston, in its inaugural NWSL season, falls to 0-0-5 and is still looking for its first point. The Legacy have scored just once in five matches, which is the real problem: they created plenty here and still came up empty. They return home to face the North Carolina Courage at Gillette Stadium on April 29.

Closing Take

Boston played like the better team for long stretches, and the scoreboard did not care. Chicago played like a team that knew exactly what it had in goal. Some nights soccer is a possession chart; some nights it is just a goalkeeper doing her best impression of a closed door. This was the second kind.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional match details from ChicagoStars.com and BostonLegacyFC.com.