Houston Dash, Portland Thorns battle to one-all draw

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 9, 2018) With a header by defender Janine van Wyk in the 81st minute, the Houston Dynamo protected their draw as they tied the Portland Thorns FC 1-1 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on Wednesday evening. Portland got on the scoreboard first when forward Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic took a pass from captain Christine Sinclair in the 25th minute, and right-footer the ball from outside the box to the bottom right corner for the first goal of the game. The score was the first of the season for the Swiss native and the third assist for Sinclair.

It took the Dash 32 minutes to even the score when forward Kyah Simon when across the cage from the right side of the box for her first goal of 2018. The score was the second of her NWSL career. Four minutes from the end of the game, it was Simon again providing the danger, this time with a right-footed blast from 23 yards that sailed over the crossbar. Simon stated:

“It’s always nice to score a goal. We built some momentum from it and created some big chances. There were some good parts in the game where we looked like the better team. It’s something to build from especially from the win last week and taking a point away against the reigning champs.”

She added, about her first goal with the club,

“I need to watch it back; I have terrible memory. I remember (Dash FW) Veronica (Latsko) holding the ball and making an overlapping run around her. Then, her playing me and it was a perfectly timed pass. I had to just hit through it to the back post. We’ve been working in training and some things are starting to pay off. We as a group are starting to build confidence. We competed against the best team in the league and got a point as well. I’m happy with the point; it was a 50/50 game.”

The Dash will play their third match in an eight-day span on Saturday when they travel to Chicago to take on the Red Stars at Toyota Park. That match is slated for a 7 p.m. CDT kickoff and will be streamed live on the go90 app and online at NWSLsoccer.com.