Dash flattened in second half, fall 3-1 to Washington Spirit
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash scored in the opening minute but saw that lead disappear in the second half in a 3-1 loss Friday night at Shell Energy Stadium against the Washington Spirit. The loss came as the club celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first match in Dash history.
After the Dash victory at Bay FC in their last match, head coach Fran Alonso made some lineup changes for this game. Natalie Jacobs made her debut for the season after her injury. Avery Patterson also got back into the lineup to continue her good form this season.
Straight off the kick-off, the Dash were on the attack which led to a corner. The corner was taken short and Andressa Alves tried to cross the ball in the box. The ball was knocked down but of nowhere, Natalie Jacobs slammed the ball into the bottom left corner to give the Dash an early lead in just the 1st minute. It was Jacobs’ first goal in her NWSL career and the fastest for the Dash in team history.
The Spirit didn’t let the early goal bother them. They came out trying to press the Dash in their half. Their first big chance came in the 20th minute from a quick counterattack that led Ashley Hatch in on goal. Jane Campbell came off her line and made a tremendous save, leading to a corner. After the corner was put into the box, Trinity Rodman had a chance for another shot, but Campbell was called on once again to make the save.
The first half ended with the Dash leading 1-0. The Dash had the majority of the possession of the ball, shots, and better passing completion. Even with the advantage in those stats, you could tell the Spirit felt like they could find their way to find real chances in the final third. Their transition was a little off in the first half despite having a lot of talent on displat. The Dash were forced to make a late substitution in the first half after Jacobs took a hard hit on a corner. Courtney Petersen replaced her.
From the start of the second half, the Spirit were on the front foot to get back into the game. Washington pressured the Dash backline and forced the defense to make mistakes. A crucial mistake came in the 52nd minute when Sophie Schmidt had the ball in her box but got pressured. She lost the ball on a horrible turnover that left rookie Hal Hershfelt all alone to score the equalizer. The game started to open up more for both teams with the score at 1-1.
The Spirit didn’t stop there. In the 82nd minute, Washington caught the Dash on the counterattack with Brittany Ratcliffe on a solo run. She slotted the ball into the top left corner, pasta diving Campbell, to give the Spirit the lead for the first time in the game. Just two minutes after taking the lead, Washington grabbed a third to see off the game. A cross into the box left rookie Croix Bethune all alone at the back post to slot it in with ease. The final whistle would blow after eight minutes of stoppage time, with the Dash falling by a score of 3-1.
Even though the Dash had a convincing start to the match with a goal in the first minute, they couldn’t put in a complete performance over the 90 minutes. The substitution of Natalie Jacobs in the back made the difference that allowed the Spirit to get back in the game and get their offense going. Now Houston will look to regroup and see what changes they can make for the next game.
The Dash will travel away to face the Portland Thorns on Saturday, April 20 at 9:00 PM. The match will be streaming on NWSL+.
