Houston Dash down North Carolina Courage 4-3

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

CARY, NORTH CAROLINA (June 19, 2022) The Houston Dash secured thee points and ascended to second place in the NWSL standings with a 4-3 win over the North Carolina Courage at WakeMed Soccer Park. With the win, Houston posts a 5-3-2 record, for 18 points behind the San Diego Wave going into the international break.

Former Houston Dash midfielder Denise O'Sulivan found the back of the goal first, in the sixth minute, to put the Courage up 1-0. The Dash responded nine minutes later when Maria Sanchez scored her first goal of season to tie the score at one in the 15th minute.

The score remained at 1-1 through the reminder of the first half, and two minutes into the second half. Then, in the 47th minute, the Dash erupted with three goals in four minutes. Elizabeth Eddy secured the brace with back-to-back goals in the 47th and 50th minute. Nichelle Prince added an additional goal one minute later (51st minute).

The Courage came back to cut the score to 3-4 when Diana Ordonoz and Débora Cristiane de Oliveira scored goals in the 57th and 59th minutes, respectively.

Santos tops Monterrey 1-0 in Houston friendly

Photo by Darla Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 18, 2022) The 6,000-plus fans at PNC Stadium on Saturday night saw to rivals from Liga MX faceoff in a friendly preseason match which saw Santos Laguna take a 1-0 win over CF Monterrey.

Spirited and aggressive play by both sides kept the match scoreless until in 79th minute when forward Harold Preciado came off the bench for the only goal of the game to secure the win for Santos.

In the 40th minute, fans were brought to the feet when medical personal were called onto the pitch to attend to Santos' Ismael Govea. The starting defender was taken from the field on a gurney and his condition was unknown at the time of this article's publication.

In the previous five matches between Rayados and Santos, the were even, with two wins on each side and only one draw. In their most recent meeting, Monterrey won at home on matchday 13 of the Clausura 2022.

With just a few days before a  new tournament in Mexico and the countdown to the Apertura 2022 beginning The match was a key pre-tournament tune-up prior to the start of the upcoming season. 

Nichelle Prince's hat trick propels Houston Dash to 5-0 win over Orlando

Rachel Daly was honored prior to the match
for her 100th NWSL appearance against the
North Carolina Courage on May 29, 2022.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis,
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 3, 2022) The Houston Dash jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 45 minutes of play, in route to a 5-0 rout of the Orlando Pride at PNC Stadium in Houston. The 5-0 win marked Houston's largest regular season margin since a 4-0 win over Racing Louisville in September 2021.

The 4,000-plus fans in attendance saw forward Nichelle Prince achieve a hat-trick, with goals in the 27th,  39th and 48th minutes, with captain Rachel Daly's  goal in the 32nd minute being the "meat" of the trifecta first half goal sandwich, The three goals gave the Ohio State alum her second, third and fourth goals of the season. Her season total of four goals in 2022 has already pasted her overall season total of three from 2017, with the Dash only six goals into the season. Daly's goal total for 2022 increased to four, and puts her in position to break her scoring high of 10 from 2018.  Michelle Alozie added the insurance goal in the 87th minute to cap Houston's scoring.

Houston played an aggressive, but controlled match against the Pride. That aggressiveness allowed Houston to record 16 shots on goal in route to their five-goal victory, along with giving acting head coach Sarah Lowdon her third career win. It also extended the Dash's unbeaten streak against Orlando to five games.

With the win, the Dash win their third regular season win and increased their unbeaten streak to five matches. Their current record of 3-1-2 through six games gives them 14 points and pushed them, currently, to first place in the NWSL. The top ranked team, prior to the match was the San Diego Wave (4-2-0, 12 points). They will face off against Kansas City (1-4-1, 2 points) on Saturday.