Dash fall short in 1-0 loss to North Carolina
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash lost 1-0 Saturday night to an inform North Carolina Courage at WakeMed Soccer Park. This was the first matchday for teams without their World Cup bound players and Houston continued to struggle on offense even against a depleted Courage team. The Dash were once again held without a goal, causing more concern as the offensive woes show no signs of stopping.
Head coach Sam Laity had to make some squad changes due to players having left for the Women’s World Cup. Courtney Petersen replaced Allysha Chapman at left back and Marisa Viggiano replaced captain Sophie Schmidt. Jane Campbell took the captain’s armband with Schmidt now gone for the World Cup. The game was set to kickoff at 6:30 CT but was pushed back an hour due to weather conditions in the area.
As the first whistle sounded, North Carolina Courage took control of the possession off the bat. It was expected that the Courage would control most of the ball and the Dash would look to overrun them in transition. Houston had their time on the ball and missed out on two good chances in the first half of play.
The Dash were forced to make an early substitution with Sophie Hirst had to come out of the game with discomfort in the hamstring. She was replaced by Barb Olivieri after just 25 minutes. It seems a hard blow for the Dash since the team is low on midfield players that operate in the 6 or 8 positions.
The teams went into half time at 0-0 with neither side really testing the net on offense. The Courage were ahead in many of the stats, mainly in attack and possession of the ball.
In the second half, the Dash still couldn’t muster anything offensively and the Courage attack finally broke through. From a free kick attempt, Kiara Pickett passed a through ball to Tyler Lussi who ran clear on the right flank and lobbed the ball over Jane Campbell. It put North Carolina Courage up 1-0 in the 59th minute.
The game would end 1-0 with the Courage picking up all three points. The loss ends the Dash’s five- match unbeaten streak. Head coach Sam Laity mentioned after the match that it was a frustrating game to watch and that this upcoming week will be a good time to reflect on what went wrong and make adjustments.
The Dash will be back at Shell Energy Stadium to face off against the Chicago Red Stars on Friday, June 7th at 7:30 PM.
