Red Stars pull big upset as they search for a coach

The Red Stars not only played their first game under a new coach Saturday night, but a couple of other things were different too.

They scored and they won, defeating first-place FC Gold Pride 1-0 at Toyota Park.

The difference was a 55th-minute Kosovare Asllani goal, only the fourth by the Red Stars (2-4-1, 7 points) this season. It was the first game for the club since coach Emma Hayes was fired on Monday.

"It was a difficult week," said general manager and interim coach Marcia McDermott. "Obviously, it was not an easy decision to change coaches. But once we made it we needed to move forward."

"I'm so proud of the team and how we worked for each other," Asllani said. "The only word that I can come up with in my head is teamwork. I was so proud tonight, and I feel like it wasn't just my goal, it was the team goal. ...

"I think everybody started to think that we needed to work for each other, because we have in my opinion the greatest team in the league and feel that we are supposed to be on top, and we started tonight."

Meanwhile, the search for a new coach continues. McDermott said she won't keep the job very long but wouldn't put a timetable on the search.

"It's too much to expect to fill too many roles within an organization," McDermott said. "It's too important, each of them on their own. Right now we're actively in pursuit of building a list of the next Red Stars coach."

The Red Stars host expansion Atlanta next weekend.