More than five hours after they kicked off the Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit found out their match was postponed, and the 38 minutes of action would be wiped from the record books. The sides played 18:08 before being pulled off the field for a lightning delay that lasted nearly three hours. They returned and resumed play shortly after 11 p.m. CDT at Benedictine University Sports Complex. They got 21 more minutes in, mostly in torrential rain, before the players were called off the field again. Soon thereafter the match was officially postponed. A reschedule date has not been determined.
Naperville, Illinois native Megan Oyster appeared to score her first NWSL goal but the postponement will make that null and void.
The match between the two top teams in NWSL became the third match to be rescheduled. Last summer the Dash and Sky Blue were postponed following a similar delay at Yurcak Field. In 2013 the Breakers elected not to fly to Kansas City three days after the Boston Marathon bombing.
This is not the first time the Spirit and Red Stars were involved in a weather delay. Two years ago the Red Stars’ feint playoff hopes were officially zapped in a 1-0 loss to the Spirit that was declared final after 80 minutes following a lengthy delay and a curfew at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
Tickets for Saturday’s game can be used for other Red Stars home matches this season.