Alyssa Naeher made five saves and the Chicago Stars held firm over Gotham FC on Sunday with a 0-0 tie at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.
It was the Stars’ first clean sheet of the 2025 season. Naeher is now up to 50 career NWSL shutouts, 45 of those coming with Chicago.
It was the Stars’ first game since firing coach Lorne Donaldson on Wednesday. Assistant coach Masaki Hemmi took charge as the interim in Donaldson’s place.
Gotham dominated but couldn’t find a way into the Stars’ goal. The closest the hosts came to scoring was when Jaelin Howell crashed the crossbar with a long-range effort in the second half.
Gotham finished the game with 14 total shots to Chicago’s four. Gotham also had the lion’s share of possession (58%). The visiting Stars won 66% of the aerial duels.
Former UCLA Bruin Sofia Cook came off the bench to make her NWSL debut for Gotham in the 79th minute.
The tie keeps Gotham (3-2-3) third in the NWSL standings. The Stars (1-5-1) are glued to 14th, last place.
In the only other NWSL match on Sunday, Trinity Armstrong scored a header in the fifth minute of stoppage to hand San Diego Wave a dramatic 2-1 win over California rivals Bay FC.