Houston Dash and Utah Royals battle to a scoreless draw

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 30, 2018) For the second week in a row, the Houston Dash remained undefeated in 2018 as they battled to a scoreless draw against the Utah Royals FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. The draw pushed Houston's record to 0-0-2 (two points) and kept head coach Vera Pauw undefeated in her Dash premier season. 

After 45 minutes of mostly defensive play, the game was scoreless with the Dash taking one shot, by Kimberly Keever and the Royals taking two, by Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir. The only shot on goal was by Jonsdottir.

In the second half, the Dash got more in the offensive side of the pitch. In the 51st minute, Haley Hanson received the ball from Meleana Shin and sailed it too high from outside the box. Two minutes later, Savannah Jordan got the ball on a cross from Kristie Mewis and right-footed a shot from the center of the box. Unfortunately for Houston, the ball was wide. The give-and take play in the second half saw more offense by the Dash; shooting six times. Utah took eight shots in the second half. The highlight of the game was the performance of goalkeeper Jane Campbell. The Kennesaw, Georgia native, who played her college soccer at Stanford, tallied five saves. The game was the second shutout of the season for Campbell and the Dash. In 2017, Campbell registered three shutouts.

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

Pauw (shown left) discussed Campbell's performance with the press after the game, stating, “She was superb, of course. She kept us in the game, and she won the point for us.” 

Campbell gave her thoughts about the team after their first two games. She was quoted, “We were expecting to get two wins. In the first game, we gave up a late goal. We beat ourselves. Today, Utah came and played a great game. We didn’t play that well, especially in the second half. Utah took full advantage, so we’re thankful they didn’t put one away. We were expecting two wins, but at least we got two points out of them."

The next game for the Dash will be Wednesday,  April 18 against the Chicago Red Stars at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, followed by a Sunday, April 22 match-up versus Orlando City. They will return home on Saturday, April 28, where they will face the North Carolina Courage with a 2:30 p.m. CDT start.