BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Sky Blue FC continued to be confounded by the Chicago Red Stars Sunday.

The New Jersey side’s winless streak against its National Women’s Soccer League rival reached 11th game. This time Sky Blue lost the lead and then the game, 2-1, at Toyota Park.

Sky Blue (5-5-1, 16 points) fell to 0-5-6 against its Windy City rivals since the NWSL was established in 2013. The team is 0-2-4 here.

The visitors scored early when Madison Tiernan finished a Taylor Lytle corner kick in the third minute, but Chicago (6-2-2, 20) rallied with two second-half goals.

“We are very disappointed in the outcome of this game,” Sky Blue head coach Christy Holly said. “We played fairly well in the first half and created multiple opportunities, but we made too many poor decisions on the ball in the second half. This was not a performance that matches our ability. Now we just have to put it behind us and make sure we give our fans in New Jersey something to cheer about on Wednesday night.”

After Raquel Rodriguez broke the NWSL record by scoring a Sam Kerr feed 24 seconds into last weekend’s match in Portland, Sky Blue FC struck early once again. Kerr played McKenzie Meehan into the penalty area as Meehan battled to earn a corner kick. Lytle sent a cross into the box as Tiernan went high to redirect a header into the back of the net. The goal was the first in the professional career of the New Jersey native.

Sky Blue FC held off the hard-charging Red Stars. The team’s back line and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan were tested in their defensive third, but the group rose to the occasion in the opening half.

In the 63rd minute, Chicago broke through. Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo worked her way into space just atop the 18-yard box before striking a hard shot that leveled the match at 1-1.

Chicago grabbed lead in the 67th minute after defender Casey Short went on a run before dishing to Sofia Huerta inside the penalty area. Huerta turned on a shot that split two defenders and made it 2-1.

Sky Blue FC will return home to Yurcak Field to play the Orlando Pride Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Scoring summary:

3′ – NJ Madison Tiernan (Taylor Lytle)
63′ – CHI Vanessa DiBernardo
67′ – CHI Sofia Huerta (Casey Short)

Lineups:

NJ: Sheridan, Mills, Freeman, Pearce, Simon (Skroski-53), Killion, Lytle (Corboz-71), Rodriguez (Hayes-87), Meehan, Kerr, Tiernan

Subs not used: Casey, Richardson, DeCesare, O’Hara
Head Coach: Christy Holly

CHI: Naeher, Short, Johnson, Naughton, Gilliland, Ertz, Colaprico (Comeau-76), Huerta, DiBernardo, Press, Hoy (Mautz-46)

Subs Not Used: Green, Kaskie, McCaffrey, Dalton, Gorden
Head Coach: Mark Parsons

Stats Summary: CHI / NJ
Shots: 12 / 8
Saves: 3 / 3
Corner Kicks: 7 / 5
Fouls: 5 / 7
Offside: 4 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
N/A

Officials:
Referee: Karen Abt
Assistant Referee 1: TJ Zablocki
Assistant Referee 2: Jeremy Kieso
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.