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By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
After weeks of hype and anticipation, the Chicago Red Stars are finally ready to invade Wrigley Field.
While the Red Stars may not draw the NWSL record of 34,130 spectators they were hoping for on June 8, they do have a shot to surpass the franchise record 23,951, which was set in 2022 as a part of a doubleheader with the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. Team officials said 23,000 tickets have been sold for the Wrigley game, in which the Stars will face Bay FC at 6:30 p.m.
The all-day event will begin with a fan fest at 10 a.m. outside the park on Chicago’s North Side.
Orland Park native and Stars defender Tatumn Milazzo was one player who appeared in commercials promoting the historic event.
“We’re really excited — I feel like with every update we get, there are more tickets sold and that’s super-cool to hear about,” Milazzo said. “But we have to treat it as a game where we put in a full 90-minute performance together.
“Given the environment and the fans, we’re going to look for that to be lifting us and giving us energy to go from the first whistle to the last whistle.”
First-year coach Lorne Donaldson is treating this like a road game, which is a good thing because the Red Stars (5-5-1) are 3-1-1 away from SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
“I think it’s exciting for the fans, but it’s an away game for us and we usually do very well away,” Donaldson said. “Hopefully we can use our ‘away’ mentality and take care of business.”
The Stars beat Bay FC (3-8-0), an expansion team, 2-1 on May 5 in San Jose, California.
Milazzo’s playing time has been up and down this season, but she played full matches in the past two contests.
“I’m feeling good,” she said. “The more you build on minutes, the more confidence you get. I’m still trying to gel with the players around me and see what works.
“I feel like we’re trying to find that chemistry. The more minutes I get, the more opportunity I have, and I’m really excited to keep going.”
After a hot start, the Red Stars have cooled off in recent weeks, but the team is outpacing last year’s last-place squad.
“From a team perspective, we’re all doing really well together,” Milazzo said. “We’re showing up for practice and trying to take it day-by-day, and pick one thing we’re going to build on that day and just keep putting it all together.
“We’re in a better place together and looking for each game ahead.”
