Masar returns as a pro
Ask Loren Tate and Jim Turpin about Tuesday's match by clicking here
URBANA — Ella Masar is in the final days of her team's preseason schedule, but the way she figures it, she's going out with a bang.
Masar and her Chicago Red Stars of the new Women's Professional Soccer league will take on Janet Rayfield's Illini in a 6 p.m. exhibition match Tuesday at the UI Soccer and Track Stadium.
For Masar, a former Urbana and Illini standout, it will be a chance to say hello - and, perhaps, goodbye — to the people who have meant the most to her sparkling career.
"I'm just so excited," she said. "I can't believe it's been a year since I've been on that field. I know I'm not going to be wearing orange and blue, but that doesn't take away the fact that I'm going to be playing in front of my home crowd one last time. To be able to look out in the crowd and know a lot of those people — and they've been there for the last four years and some of them a lot longer - it's a pretty remarkable feeling."
It will be the final exhibition for the Red Stars, who open the season April 4.
Chicago's roster includes U.S. Olympic gold medalists Carli Lloyd and Lindsay Tarpley, along with Brazilian star Christiane.
Masar said the opportunity to display professional soccer to a local audience is important.
"I think we just want that respect. It's not about the money," Masar said. "For heaven's sake, I'm not bashful to tell people that for the next six months I'm making $25,000. It has nothing to do with the money.
"We put in hours upon hours. We might not be as fast, we might not be as strong, but you can bet we can play soccer. If you're not impressed by any game that you come to - whether it's Tuesday or you come (to Chicago) - we give you your money back. I've seen girls do things in the last two weeks that I've never seen some men do. It's that caliber of a team."
Chicago also features former Illini defender Mary Therese McDonnell.
Admission is free but a $5 donation is suggested. Proceeds will benefit the Red Stars Charitable Foundation.
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