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By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
The Lorne Donaldson era is already Cook-ing.
The new Chicago Red Stars coach enjoyed a victory in his debut with a 2-0 triumph over Utah in the NWSL season-opener for both teams on March 16 at America First Field in Sandy, Utah. The game was the first in franchise history for the Royals, which joined the league this season along with fellow expansion team Bay FC.
The Red Stars’ second goal came in the 77th minute when Ally Cook found Ava Cook for a goal.
Ava Cook has been with Chicago since 2022. Ally Cook signed with the club last week after attending camp as a non-roster invitee. The two women are not related.
“We keep joking around and telling everyone that we’re cousins,” Ava said. “I guess we should stop doing that.
“But it’s pretty close. Our dads have the same name. Our parents are from Michigan. It really could be we are long-lost cousins somehow.”
Both players entered the game in the 61st minute, and Cook found Cook for the insurance score 16 minutes later.
“It was kind of destined to happen,” Ava said. “So, we said ‘Let’s just get to the point and we’ll do it right off the bat.’ It’s great. She got herself in a really good position and all I really had to do was clean it up for her a little bit.
“It was a great little connection that we had and I’m excited to keep doing it.”
Ally Schlegel opened the scoring in the 50th minute with an assist from Sam Staab.
Goalie Alyssa Naeher recorded the shutout and made five saves.
The Red Stars finished last in the league in 2023 and have gone through an ownership and coaching change.
Donaldson was low-key about the victory, saying that no one should be turning cartwheels after just one game. But he said it was a good start.
“The players should be proud of themselves, and the club should be proud and the ownership should be proud,” he said. “It means a lot to start off with a win.”
Late cuts
The Red Stars have released a couple of players who play for the national teams of other countries.
Gone are Jill Aguilara, a midfielder who played for Puerto Rico, and Sam Fisher, a midfielder representing El Salvador.
“They had a wonderful [CONCACEF] Gold Cup and I was happy for them to go play for their country,” Donaldson said. “But when we select players, we have to go with players that are going to bring the best out of this club.
“They’re good players, I’m sure they’ll go somewhere else and play, but it has nothing to do with them not being good players. They’re very, very good players, but we have to get a group of players that we think can collectively function and get some results.”
First Impressions
Red Stars coaches and the results in their NWSL debuts:
2009 — Emma Hayes, beat St. Louis, 1-0
2010 — Omid Namazi, tied Atlanta, 0-0
2011 — Rory Dames, lost to Minnesota, 1-0
2022 — Chris Petrucelli, beat Louisville, 2-1
2024— Lorne Donaldson, beat Utah, 2-0