Not so fast …
It appeared that the soccer season at SeatGeek Stadium was going to be shut down after the Chicago Red Stars played their final regular-season home game Nov. 3 at the Bridgeview facility.
But the Big Ten Conference recently announced its men’s soccer tournament quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at SeatGeek on Nov. 7 and 10, respectively.
The semifinals are at 2 and 4:30 p.m. and will be televised live on Big Ten Network and the FOX Sports app. The three quarterfinal matches, set for noon, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., will be broadcast on B1G+.
The tournament championship, scheduled for 3 p.m. Nov. 17, will be played on the home field of the highest remaining seed and broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.
As of Oct. 20, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State and Michigan State were the top four teams in the standings.
More information regarding tickets for the Big Ten quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be available at a later date.
Red Stars still struggling
Despite the fact that the Red Stars have clinched a NWSL playoff spot, they are not playing good soccer as of late.
They dropped their second straight game and were shut out again, 2-0, at Washington on Oct. 20.
With one regular-season match to go, the Red Stars (10-13-2) are still in sixth place with 32 points, but seventh- and eighth-place Portland and Bay FC are right behind with 31 points.
The Red Stars close the regular season at 2 p.m. Nov. 3 against fourth-place Kansas City at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Kansas City (15-3-7) is coming off a 4-1 trouncing of San Diego.
The two teams played on June 14 in Kansas City and Mallory Swanson and Sam Staab scored goals for the Red Stars in a 2-2 draw.
International stars
While the Red Stars take a week off from NWSL competition, seven players will report to their various countries for international play.
Alyssa Naeher and Mallory Swanson will represent the United States. Other international players are Rosella Ayane (Morocco), Julia Grosso (Canada), Natalia Kuikka (Finland), Ludmila (Brazil) and Sydney Schneider (Jamaica).
That means the full team won’t be around for practice and the international players will have a big workload while away from the team.
“Some players will have three games and some will have two,” Red Stars coach Lorne Donaldson said. “Some players are flying around the world and when they come back, there are games right away.
“There’s got to be some kind of load management with players because we need them for this stretch. With that in mind, we will still press on and try to get better.”
Fire II still alive
The Chicago Fire II won their first Major League Soccer Next Pro Eastern Conference playoff game in the penalty-kick round, 6-4, after a 1-1 draw with Orlando on Oct. 20 at SeatGeek Stadium.
Jean Diouf scored the winning penalty kick for Chicago.
The semifinals take place the weekend of Oct. 25.
Fire finished
The Chicago Fire, an occasional SeatGeek Stadium resident, closed their Major League Soccer season with a 3-0 loss to Nashville Oct. 19 at Soldier Field.
The Fire finished 7-18-9, and in last place in the Eastern division.
Frank Klopas coached his final game before his reassignment to vice president of football. Gregg Berhalter replaces him.