Sunday, April 29, 2018

Ohai returns to starting XI, but Houston Dash falls to North Carolina 2-0

Photo by Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved
By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 28, 2018) The 3,591 fans at BBVA Compass Stadium were witness to the return of Kealia Ohai to the starting lineup, but it was not enough, as the Houston Dash dropped a 2-0 decision to the North Carolina Courage on Saturday afternoon in Houston. Ohai, along with newcomer Kyah Simon, excited the highly partisan crowd, but the Dash could not find the back of the net for the third loss of the season. Ohai talked after the game about her return.  

“Good, as far as my knee, and physically, I feel really good. I just think that we have some areas that we need to improve on, definitely set pieces – that is one of our weaknesses and we need to be better defending those, but I think we have a lot with (forward) Kyah (Simon) and we have a lot to build on. Kyah has only got about three practices with us so, moving forward we are going to improve a lot, still, but it’s just those little things that we need to fix.”

The Courage scored in the third minute with a long throw-in from forward Jessica McDonald, which bounced inside the penalty area and found forward Crystal Dunn in the right position for her third goal of the season. They added an insurance goal lead in the 48th minute after the Dash cleared a corner kick that fell to midfielder Kristen Hamilton. Hamilton settled the bouncing ball and uncorked a shot from 25 yards out that beat Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell low to her right post.

Dash fans were brought to their feet in the 76th minute when midfielder Linda Motlhalo went down on the pitch with an injury and had to be carried off the field by teammate Rachel Daly (shown above). The 19-year-old South African was replaced by Claire Falknor.

Next up for the Dash is a Saturday, May 5 match up against Sky Blue FC in New Jersey. They return to BBVA Compass Stadium on Wednesday, May 9 to host the defending NWSL Champions, Portland Thorns FC.

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