Dash play to 0-0 stalemate with Racing Louisville in season opener
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash opened the 2023 campaign with a 0-0 stalemate against Racing Louisville FC at Shell Energy Stadium. The Dash played in the newly renovated stadium for the first time, with 5,722 in attendance.
New Dash head coach Sam Laity chose an interesting and new line up for the Dash, going with two strikers and putting María Sánchez on the bench. Diana Ordóñez and Ebony Salmon started up top together to bolster a fiery attacking group.
In the first half, both teams seem to struggle for possession of the ball. Racing Louisville had more clear chances compared to the Dash. Houston struggled to connect 2 to 3 passes to get in the final third early in the half. With some frustration, Dash forward Joelle Anderson got a yellow card in the 14th minute for a late tackle. Some bright runs from Ryan Gareis helped Houston open the game up. Louisville goalkeeper Katie Lund was forced to tip a shot over the cross bar from Dash forward Ebony Salmon in the 20th minute.
A few minutes later, Gareis once again opened up the play took a shot in the 25th minute that was way wide. On the other, Louisville midfielder Ary Borges had a clear chance in the 32nd minute and put it wide left. No team had clear chances until the 45th minute when Caprice Dydasco sent the ball to the box and Lund failed to clear the ball, but Gareis was unable to put the ball into the net.
Laity made a substitution at the beginning of the second half, replacing Courtney Petersen with Allysha Chapman. Louisville came out on the front foot, having 2 good chances in the first ten minutes of the half. Houston got a look after a break from Ryan Gareis as she crossed the ball into Ebony Salmon but her shot went wide in the 57th minute.
The game got physical at times and defender Natalie Jacobs and midfielder Sophie Schmidt got yellow cards just minutes apart. Laity made a quick change to get the attack going in the 61st minute, bringing on Sánchez and Cameron Tucker for Gareis and Salmon. Moments after Tucker got behind the defense to be 2 on 1 with the goalkeeper but instead of squaring the ball across goal to Sánchez, she took it herself put the shot wide in the 65th minute.
Houston’s best chance of the night came almost out of nowhere. Sánchez sent in a great cross with her favored left foot Ordóñez who got to the ball first put a head on the cross. Lund reacted quickly to deny the header and close range and Tucker’s rebound attempt forced the Racing goalkeeper to make a double save in the 68th minute. That ended up being the last big chance of the night for the Dash as both teams picked up a point as the game ended 0-0.
The Dash will feel they could have taken something from this game with the chances they created. Head coach Sam Laity felt that way in his post-game comments. “It's difficult to really tell how you are feeling after the game because sometimes you have to look at the game back and see how you feel,” Laity said. “Right now, it's frustration, pride in the effort and the commitment from the players. A bit of frustration with decision making at key moments and just technical execution in key moments. A little bit frustrated but happy with the players’ commitment and the attitude. Obviously, we want more. It's important message for them to hear we can do better, and we will do better, but it’s a great start.”
Midfielder Shea Groom and defender Katie Lind missed the match with injury. Lind, formerly Naughton, has been an iron woman since joining the Dash and barely missed a minute. Her absence was felt in the match. Natalie Jacobs filled in admirably at center back, but Lind’s absence was definitely felt. “Yeah, Katie (Lind) is definitely missed in the backline,” captain Sophie Schmidt said after the match. “She's a veteran player. She demands a lot out of the players around her, so as that holding midfielder in front of the backline her commanding voice telling me where to go was missing today. That's something that our kind of newish, younger center backs need to step up in is just demanding the line and speaking to the players in front of them, but by no means that they had a bad performance. But Katie does that really, really well. She's missed and we wish her a speedy recovery but I'm proud of our backline holding it down today.”
Overall, it seemed a tough battle for both sides to get a clear chance to make the breakthrough. The game ended with 6 yellow cards and a total of 19 fouls in the match. With it being the first game of the season, there were good efforts from the Dash, especially in the second half.
Now the players will rest and get their minds ready for a shorter week with the next game away. The Dash will travel to face Chicago Red Starts at SeatGeek Stadium on April 1st at 1:00pm. The match will be streamed on Paramount + and AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
