Despite losing Swanson and firing their coach, last-place Stars thinking positive

The Chicago Stars are 1-1-5, the worst record in the NWSL. Mallory Swanson, the team’s leading scorer last year and a U.S. national team mainstay, likely will miss the entire season after announcing her first pregnancy.

And yet, from the way the rest of players are carrying themselves, you’d think the Stars were at the top of the table.

“I feel like the vibes are high. We have little time between games, and so the vibes always have to be high and positive,” Stars midfielder Julia Grosso said. “We’re still trying to get together and mesh, and I think we’ve done better the last few games. I think our movement and the speed of play has been a lot better.”

Meshing is difficult without your star forward. It’s even more difficult under an interim coach. After leading the Stars to the playoffs in 2024, manager Lorne Donaldson and the team parted ways on April 30. Assistant coach Masaki Hemmi took over in an interim capacity, but despite having less than two weeks on the job and a last-place club with a minus-11 goal differential, he feels good about where the team is at.

“Really proud of how we came out last weekend. And it was due to how we competed, how we stayed together, communication was positive,” Hemmi said. “That’s the standard we want to set and just build from there. Just really controlling how we are going to come out of the gates and making sure that we build from what we did last week.”

The result from last week was a draw against fourth-place Gotham FC. It was the Stars’ first shutout this season, and it came courtesy of 5 saves from goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. The two-time World Cup champion and team captain has been a crucial steadying hand during a season of tumult.

“I feel like it’s just the trust thing, just knowing you have such a boss back there. It’s such a game changer,” Grosso said. “We all look up to her, and she’s an inspiration to everyone. I know that I feel very assured when she’s back there.”

But there’s only so much Naeher can do. Even with the legendary goalkeeper patrolling the net, scoring goals is very difficult for Chicago without Swanson. The draw with Gotham FC was the third straight game in which the Stars were shut out, and Hemmi knows that trend cannot continue.

“Building in possession, just making sure that we’re creating more chances, more clinical around the box, those are the things that we can build on from last week,” Hemmi said. “We want to be a team that’s hard to beat. So we make sure we’re compact and moving together.”

Moving together is a good starting point, but the team also needs to finish its chances. Grosso has been the primary corner kick taker for the Stars this season, but without the veteran Swanson to settle things down, she thinks the team has gotten overeager in attack.

“I think that in the final third, everyone in general needs to have a little bit more patience on that final pass towards goal and then just be patient on the ball just to slip it in,” Grosso said. “Because I think we’re creating the chances and we’re there. It’s just that final action to the goal.”

The road ahead won’t be easy for the Stars. Their next three opponents are all in the top nine of the NWSL standings, and the loss of Swanson is almost impossible to erase. But with Hemmi’s strategic tinkering and Naeher in goal, this team is confident it can get back on the winning track soon.

“We’re ready to compete, and we can compete against anybody in this league,” Hemmi said.