Legacy winless – Boston Legacy FC was blanked 2-0 in Chicago for the fourth time in five matches, extending its winless start as it returns home facing North Carolina.
Boston Legacy FC is still chasing its first NWSL victory after a 2-0 loss in Chicago left the club winless through five games.
For a team that has shown it can generate chances. the problem has become less about effort and more about execution at the moments that decide matches.. Saturday’s game featured plenty of pressure from Boston. but the scoreboard never budged for the visitors. a familiar pattern during an inaugural-season stretch that’s been defined by frustration as much as by work on the training ground.
The Legacy were out of the gates quickly. and yet the night’s early turning point came at the 10-minute mark.. Chicago’s Jordyn Huitema opened the scoring after a corner from Sam Staab found space in the box.. Huitema was uncovered near the far post and poked a loose ball past Casey Murphy. turning what could have been a contested moment into an early 1-0 lead.
Boston’s response was not lack of intent—if anything, it was volume.. The Legacy fired 17 shots in the first half and added 10 more after the break. including eight total on goal. but couldn’t convert those looks into goals.. The stat line was a reminder that finding rhythm in the attacking third is only part of the battle; getting the kind of composure that produces finishing separates teams that are still searching from those that are already separating.
In the closing stretch of the first half. Boston created a three-pronged sequence of near-misses that felt like the kind of momentum swing coaches hope to break through.. Sammy Smith. a Hanson native. collected a long volley and sent it across the 18-yard box to Alba Caño. whose shot struck the crossbar.. Minutes earlier or later it might have been called “just unlucky.” On this night. it landed as a snapshot of the larger theme: the ball kept coming back to the Stars’ keeper and defenders. and the moment never fully turned.
Coach Filipa Patão said the biggest hurdle isn’t tactics so much as the mental weight of repeated setbacks.. She pointed to confidence—how consecutive losses can change the way players carry themselves during key possessions.. “It’s hard when the results don’t come to our side. ” Patão said. adding that “ghosts” can creep into play when wins are delayed.. Nichelle Prince echoed that sentiment from a player’s perspective. saying the team wants success “bad” but needs to channel the urgency into composure and belief in front of goal.
Chicago made Boston pay for its pressing in the 51st minute, doubling the lead after a clean break.. Ryan Gareis and Nadia Gomes broke through the Legacy pressure, and Gareis set up a one-on-one with Murphy.. Gomes finished it decisively. scoring to make it 2-0 and shifting the match into a different gear—one where Boston would need even sharper control to climb back.
That combination—chances created, shots fired, and still no points—has now become the Legacy’s defining challenge.. Saturday marked the fourth time in five games that Boston has been shut out. even as it has produced more scoring opportunities than it has managed in other stretches this season.. In an inaugural campaign, those contradictions matter.. They suggest the roster and approach can generate threats. yet the team is still working through the psychological and on-field details that turn pressure into outcomes.
For fans. the human cost of a winless run shows up not just in standings but in the emotional whiplash of watching the ball near the goal without crossing the line.. When a team repeatedly hits the crossbar. forces saves. and earns rebounds—only to come up empty—it can be hard to separate luck from pattern.. But for the players. it’s also fuel: a chance to learn what kind of first touch. second decision. and finishing posture is required when the match tightens.
The next test comes quickly.. The Legacy return to Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.. to face North Carolina, a matchup that will put Boston’s confidence under another microscope.. If the team can keep its attacking output while tightening the final moments—especially after a first goal is conceded—this stretch may begin to pivot from near-miss narratives into something more constructive.. For now. the scoreboard still reads like a blank page. and Boston’s season is still waiting for the sentence that finally breaks the drought.