Amanda Gutierres, Nichelle Prince lead Boston Legacy to third win of NWSL season

Sport admin July 11, 2026 0 Comments

Amanda Gutierres, Nichelle Prince lead Boston Legacy to third win of NWSL season

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — For just the second time this season, Boston Legacy FC played with a lead on Friday night. And for the first time, they held it through the final whistle.

Brazilian striker Amanda Gutierres converted a first-half penalty kick — her third goal of the year from the spot — and Nichelle Prince added some insurance in the second half as the Legacy beat the Chicago Stars, 2-0, in front of 7,463 fans at Rhode Island’s Centreville Bank Stadium.

With three points in hand, Boston (3-7-4, 13 points) leap-frogged the Stars (4-10-0, 12 points) in the NWSL standings.

Goalkeeper Casey Murphy made four saves, including one with her fingertips off a point-blank shot in the waning minutes, for her first clean sheet of the season.

“She can show up in big moments, and it gives us hope that we can keep going — that we’re capable,” said forward Bianca St-Georges.

Aïssata Traoré drew a penalty in the 19th minute, and striker Gutierres cashed in from the spot for her fourth goal of the season, three of which have come on penalties.

On a long ball from Jorelyn Carabalí, Traoré went up to retrieve it as she entered the box and was fouled by center back Aaliyah Farmer. On the ensuing penalty, Chicago goalkeeper Katie Atkinson guessed the right direction, but Gutierres buried it low in the right corner to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

Under a blanket of fog following a halftime fireworks show — and one errant bang once play had resumed — Prince forced a turnover at the top of the box, took one touch around Atkinson, and buried her second goal of the year to double Boston’s lead in the 57th minute.

Friday marked just the second time this season the Legacy have played with a lead during regulation; the previous instance was a 2-2 draw with North Carolina in which they let a 2-0 lead slip in the second half. Both of Boston’s previous wins entering Friday came on stoppage-time goals.

Boston’s early offensive pressure on Friday was not unlike its first meeting with the Stars this season. In that windy April matchup, the Legacy played perhaps their most confounding game of the season, firing off 28 shots but coming up empty in a 2-0 loss.

Coach Filipa Patão and the Legacy players are adamant they haven’t changed anything since that loss; Friday’s win was proof their long-term plan is working.

“We believe in this process,” Patão said. “Sometimes, [whether] the ball gets in or not, [what’s important is] the motivation and the emotional control.”

Following that April game, Boston embarked on a five-game unbeaten streak and began to find its offensive identity, which was evident early in Friday’s matchup.

Coming off a frustrating 2-2 draw on Sunday in which they got out to a slow start and an early two-goal deficit, the Legacy on Friday nearly scored twice in the first minute of the match, both thanks to Traoré’s high press.

Twenty-two seconds in, the Malian striker was face-to-face with Atkinson at the top of the box, but after a scrum the ball fell to Prince, whose attempt on an empty net was stopped by a Chicago defender.

Less than a minute later, Traoré ran onto a long ball and sent a cross slightly behind Guiterres, who had an open look at net but got tangled up in her own feet and couldn’t convert.

“We cannot fail so many goals in the box when we have situations that [are] a clear chance at goal,” Patão said. “We need to have more killer instincts inside the box.”