Portland dashes by Houston 3-1

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
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By Lou Roesch

Special Correspondent 

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HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 22, 2018) Christine Sinclair playing in her 100 NWSL match for the Portland Thorns FC (shown right) celebrated with a goal an assist to lead PTFC to a 3-1 win over the Houston Dash. Portland, in fourth place, and coming off a loss in Chicago wanted to make a statement here in Houston where they have never lost. Portland secured the three points and slowed down a Houston team that was starting three new faces with minimal training time together.

“I think every game is important now, every game is important,” said Portland head coach Mark Parsons following the match, "but this one and every game after will be crucial. I think we thrive in the biggest games and this was a big one for us give our schedule coming up. We have been performing well on the road and we wanted to grab a few more points on the road and we did that tonight.”

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

Portland got on the board early as Tobin Heath (shown left) scored in the ninth minute of play. Sinclair played a quick one two in midfield with Ellie Carpenter and found herself running at the Dash defense. Crnogorcevic dummied the ball to allow Heath through and the midfielder made no mistake, passing the ball into the net with the outside of her boot at Jane Campbell’s near post.

Although PTFC would allow the equalizer just three minutes later to Sofia Huerta, goalkeeper Adrianna Franch in her first game back would clamp down allowing nothing the rest of the way.

Portland got the go ahead goal in the 33^rd minute. Once again it was Sinclair who got things started playing a ball down the line to former Dash defender Meghan Klingenberg. The defender’s cross found Crngorcevic whose first attempt was blocked by Campbell but the rebound came right back to her and a slow motion header found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. Sinclair would finish Houston off with her league leading seventh goal of the season in the 83^rd minute.

“We showed great character and great discipline and commitment to a hard task to keep Houston quiet,” concluded Parsons. “To score three goals away from home is exceptional scoring especially in a hard place against a Vera coached team is very hard. She has done a great job here. So I am proud of the group and now we have to refresh for a big one on Wednesday.”

Portland (5-4-4, 19 points) welcomes winless Sky Blue to Providence Park on Wednesday June 27. Kick-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Head Coach Vera Pauw, Houston Dash: Post-Game Presser Jun 22, 2018

Video by Robert H Kelly, TexSport Publications

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Sofia Huerta scores solo goal for Houston Dash in 3-1 loss to Portland Thorns

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 (June 22, 2018) It only took 12 minutes for newcomer Sofia Huerta (shown left) to make her presence known to the Houston Dash fans at BBVA Compass Stadium on Friday evening. The 26-year-old midfielder, who was acquired, via a trade, from the Chicago Red Stars four days ago,  scored her first goal as a member for the Dash in Houston's 3-1 loss to the Portland Thorns on Friday evening.

Huerta, who was traded along with Taylor Comeau to the Dash, scored 22 goals and tallied 11 assists in 74 appearances for the Red Stars since entering the league in 2015. The lone goal was not enough for Houston to down the Thorne, who scored the first goal of the match in the ninth minute by Tobin Heath. It was the second goal of the season for the 20-year-old, who has 133 caps for the United States Women's National Team. After the Dash tied the score in the twelfth minute on Huerta's score, and stoppage for a hydration break (30th minute), Ana Crongorcevic put the Thorns again up by one, in the 33rd minute, on a header inside the box. Her first attempt was rejected by Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, but the second-try rebound header found the mark. Portland added an insurance goal in the 83rd minute on an assist by Tyler Lussi.

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

Head coach Vera Pauw (shown right), talked about the Dash coming off a 19-day break from competition, "Of course Portland had a game last week, but I don’t find that as an excuse because we had a scrimmage last week, apart from the three new players and the national team players coming back and they fell into a team who for two and a half weeks have been going with the game plan, but we know that and every team has that situation, so that is not an excuse.”

The game was the debut for Huerta, wearing the orange, sky blue and black of the Dash, who played three full seasons and 11 games in 2018 for the Red Stars. She earned her seventh cap for the USWNT on June 12 in a 2-1 win over China. She stated after the game, "I felt fine coming in, I just think that it was an unfortunate week with the rain and being unable to train some days, so I think that it messed with some stuff, but I think that we can only go forward from here. It’s a younger team and we’re just going to keep coming together as we keep having practices."

Houston is currently in seventh place in the nine-team league; with  three wins, five draws, and five loses (14 points). They will next face the Orlando Pride on Wednesday, June 27. The Pride are in a three-way tie for 2nd place in the league, with 19 points and posting a record of five wins, four draws, and three losses.

Deer Park Vengeance 8U All-Stars go 2-2 in Spring Tournament

Photo by Kristine Kelly
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By Robert H Kelly
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SPRING, TEXAS (June 17, 2018) The Deer Park Vengeance 8U All-Star Softball Team competed in the "Who SAYS You're the Best Tournament" held at Bayer Park in Spring, Texas on June 15-17, 2018. They finished the weekend with a 2-2 record, placing fourth in the all-star tournament against teams against teams from Spring, Friendswood, Cleveland, and Houston  

In their first game against the Spring Storm, Deer Park won by the score of 9-8 in a four inning contest. They followed with a 10-5 thumping of the Cleveland All-Stars. The third game saw Deer Park drop a 12-8 decision to the Storm; in addition to dropping their final game of the tournament to the Friendswood Fire, 11-4.

The Vengeance players are Brooke Sawyer, Gaby Sanchez, Chloe Willis, Morgan Meredith, Mikayla Garza, Kirstin Kelly, Emilee Mendoza, Reyna Calzonzint, Madison Jones, MerrieAnne Minor, Cambrie Johnson, and Aliyah Rodriguez. They are coached by Abel Mendoza, Larry King, Tim Willis, and Leah Jones.

Russia dominates Saudi Arabia 5-0 in first match of 2018 World Cup

By Robert H Kelly
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MOSCOW, RUSSIA (June 14, 2018) In the first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, host nation Russia completed dominated Saudi Arabia by the score of 5-0 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Russia, 70th in the latest FIFA rankings, scores two goals in added time to down Al-Suqour (The Falcons), whose highest placing in World Cup history was twelfth in 1994.

Sbornaya, (The National Team) took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at halftime off the feet of  Iury Gazinsky (12th minute) and  Denis Cheryshev. (43rd minute). Arten Dzyuba also added an insurance goal in the 71st minute. The 3-0 lead was sufficient for the win after regulation, however the Russians kept the offensive pressure on the Saudis; scoring two addition goals in added time at the end of the game. Chershev scored his second goal of tournament (90th minute + 1 minute) to push the score to 4-0. Three minutes later, Aleksandr Golovin put the nail in the coffin of Saudi Arabia, to close out the scoring.

Next up for Russia is a June 19 match-up against Egypt  at Saint Petersburg Stadium in St. Petersburg while the Saudis will play Uruguay on June 20 at Kazan Stadium in Kazan.

Houston Dynamo posts 2-0 shut out over Colorado Rapids

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
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By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 9, 2018) The Houston Dynamo posted two goals within six minutes of each other to top the Colorado Rapids by the score at 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The first goal came in the 30th minute when midfielder Tomas Martinez found himself "in the right place at the right time" for his fourth goal of the season. The Argentinian started in 12 games this season and has scored six goals in his MLS career. Forward Mauro Manotas (No. 10 shown above) converted a penalty kick in the 36th minute to close the scoring in the match. It was the sixth goal of the year for the Colombian; matching his total from the 2016 season. “I hit the ball with my left and it bounced back, so I finished with my right. The truth is that he (Colorado goalkeeper Tim Howard) is a great goalkeeper who has a lot of experience and has been to World Cups. I’m content for scoring on him, ” said Manotas when talking to the media after the game.

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

Houston pushed their record to 6-5-3 on the season and gave Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (shown right) his 19th regular season win while leading the Dynamo. He was quoted after the game;

“We knew from the beginning that it was going to be a tough match with a team that normally is going to be waiting deep with five in the back and two or three defensive midfielders and only one guy up top. It’s a team that when they win the ball, they try to counterattack and capitalize on your mistakes. Today I’m really excited and happy because the players were really focused and concentrated on the game and they were aggressive. We went after them and we took control of the game really quickly and we started to create options. When we didn’t create options, we were moving the ball and trying to find them with our 50/50 balls and that is important. Sometimes, it’s not about just going forward, it’s about being able to move the ball well, and we did that today. We have to be patient and we were patient. So overall it was a good performance and we were able to score in the first half and that is, of course, very important for us. Then, with the second goal I think we were in control. We were cruising, and they got a red card which helped us to continue keeping the possession. At half time, I told the guys that we need to be sure that we don’t make any mistakes, that we don’t get sluggish like when we’re dribbling the ball; let’s play serious, let’s try to score another goal, and (forwards) Romell (Quioto), Alberth (Elis), and Mauro (Manotas), they were trying. They were pushing. They were trying. We created a couple of options. We hit the post two or three times and then the goalkeeper, Tim Howard, is excellent in saving, but I think it was a solid performance overall.”

Next up for Houston is a Monday, June 18 Lamar Hunt Cup match against Minnesota United FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT

Houston Dash battle North Carolina Courage to one-all 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 (June 3, 2018) Playing some of their best ball against the league leading North Carolina Courage, the Houston Dash battled to a one-all draw at BBVA Compass Stadium on Sunday evening. The draw was the best result the Dash has ever had against the Courage and extended the unbeaten streak to three.

In three previous meetings, Houston dropped a 2-0 decision earlier this season, on April 28, 2018, at BBVA Compass Stadium; along with two losses in 2017. They lost 1-0 on September 9, 2017 and 4-0 on September 27, 2017. 

Dash defender Haley Hanson battles three
North Carolina players for the ball.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018, All Rights Reserved

The Dash found pay dirt in the 49th minute when forward Kealia Ohai (shown above) did what she does so well; driving down the pitch and firing a shot past the opposing goalkeeper. She received a pass from goalkeeper Jane Campbell at midfield, driving the ball down the field and into the net. The goal was the first-ever for the Dash against the Courage and pushes Ohai's total to two for the season. Campbell received the assist, her first of the season for Ohai's score. Rachel Daly leads the Dash for four goals in 2018, followed by Kristie Mewis, Veronica Lastko, and Ohai with two each. Ohai stated after the game, when questioned by the press:

Jane (Campbell) has a great service. I saw the outside back was pushed up pretty far so she served it to me and I took off. I actually toe poked it with my right foot and it went in. It’s huge for me. I’m just coming back from an injury and trying to gain that confidence is difficult. It’s more difficult than I had imagine. For me, getting goals is what I need to do. Two games in a row is huge for me.”  

North Carolina evened the score at one in the 79th minute on a goal by Frannie Course, in her first appearance for the Courage in 2018. She entered the game in the 63rd minute as a replacement for midfielder Meredith Speck.

Dash head coach Vera Pauw was asked, in the post-game press conference if North Carolina were able to score as a result of fatigue or lack of focus. She stated:

“It’s probably a surprise that we could dominate the game so much and then we forget what we’ve trained during the whole week – to switch play and that worked out in the first half very well. Then it’s about going forward and that last part which was very, very good in training, somehow we forgot to do that here. The teamwork in the last third of the attack was very difficult, so everybody needs to be completely on the same sheet and if one is jumping off that sheet, then you don’t get the desired outcome. So, that’s also the hardest to develop, the hardest part of the game is to improve and we need to make steps towards that. This team is a development team and has come really far and is very close to being a key partner in this league for the playoffs — a key (contender) for the playoffs.”

The draw brings Houston's record for the first half of the season to 3-4-5 (14 points) while the Courage continues to lead the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) with a 9-0-3 record (30 points). The Dash are currently in seventh place in the NWSL. When Houston returns to play, after a 19-day break, they will face the Portland Thorns on Friday, June 22. The Thorns are currently 4-4-3 (15 points) with one of their three draw coming against the Dash on Wednesday, May 9.