Houston Dash at Orlando Pride: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash season ended on Sunday night with a 1-0 loss on the road against the Orlando Pride. The season comes to a disappointing conclusion with Houston failing to make the playoffs.
MATCH SUMMARY
Orlando Pride 1-0 Houston Dash
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Venue: Exploria Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Natalie Simon
Assistants: Katarzyna Wasiak, Brian Marshall
Fourth Official: Marie Durr
VAR: Adorae Monroy
Attendance: 8,504
Weather: 74 degrees, clear skies
SCORING SUMMARY
ORL: Marta (penalty kick) 87’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
HOU: Sarah Puntigam (caution; foul) 29’
HOU: María Sánchez (caution; foul) 81’
ORL: Ally Watt (caution; foul) 89’
LINEUPS & STATS
Orlando Pride: Anna Moorhouse; Kylie Strom, Rafaelle Souza, Emily Madril, Erika Tymrak (Ally Watt 55’), Jordyn Listro (Mikayla Cluff 71’), Haley McCutcheon, Kerry Abello, Marta, Adriana, Messiah Bright (Julie Doyle 71’)
Unused Substitutes: Carly Nelson, Megan Montefusco, Mariana Larroquette, Celia Jiménez, Summer Yates, Brianna Martínez
Total shots: 21 (Adriana 4)
Shots on goal: 8 (Marta 3)
Fouls: 13 (Messiah Bright 3)
Offside: 2 (Erika Tymrak and Messiah Bright tied with 1)
Corner kicks: 6
Saves: 2 (Anna Moorhouse 2)
Houston Dash: Jane Campbell; Sarah Puntigam, Natalie Jacobs, Katie Lind, María Sánchez, Marisa Viggiano, Andressa Alves (Bárbara Olivieri 90’), Sophie Schmidt, Caprice Dydasco, Nichelle Prince (Joelle Anderson 63’), Michelle Alozie (Diana Ordóñez 80’)
Unused substitutes: Emily Alvarado, Courtney Petersen, Ryan Gareis, Ally Prisock, Sophie Hirst, Madelyn Desiano
Total shots: 11 (Andressa Alves 4)
Shots on goal: 2 (Marisa Viggiano and Nichelle Prince tied with 1)
Fouls: 19 (Sarah Puntigam 4)
Offside: 2 (Nichelle Prince and Michelle Alozie tied with 1)
Corner kicks: 5
Saves: 7 (Jane Campbell 7)
HOUSTON DASH INTERIM HEAD COACH SARAH LOWDON
On the game:
"Obviously, this was not the result we wanted, but I can't praise the players enough. They never gave up. They fought all season. We talked about what we wanted to see on the field and what we wanted the fans to see on the field. We talked about passion, grit, discipline, fun and bravery. I think we felt that from the players all season long."
On takeaways from the game:
"The pre-game message was 'What do you look forward to the most? Is it the journey or the destination?' For us, it's about the company. That's so important. As a staff, we're all really proud to have been on this journey with the group of players. We've got lots of work to do in the offseason, but we've got some building blocks to do that. It's the company that you're around. We're around each other for long periods of time. It's a long season. That's what I'm most proud of, just the group in general. They gave everything, absolutely everything and that speaks volumes. Eventually, you're going to get good outcomes when you give everything."
HOUSTON DASH GOALKEEPER JANE CAMPBELL
On the game:
“It was a hard-fought match for both us and Orlando. We both had stakes on the line, and we had to perform. It is just a heartbreaker to lose a game and finish the season like that. I am super proud of the group this year. We have faced speedbump after speedbump this year. We came together, I felt, and were a tough team to beat, and I am proud of that. We had a couple of chances in the first half that we could have capitalized on. At the end of the day, the ball never lies. It just wasn't our day, and it wasn't our season. Next year, we got to go to the drawing board, and we got to do better. Every one of us has to be better. It's an exciting time heading into the offseason. I hope we come back ready to make the playoffs.”
On the message to the team at halftime:
"In the opening part of the first half, we did quite well. Orlando, hats off to them. They were very disciplined in the way they defended. They weren't pressing us. They were waiting for us to give the ball up or jump when they wanted to initiate their press. We were starting to get a little out of control in that regard. We were starting to get a bit impatient and just trying to be the hero, play hero ball when we could have just played a little bit more simple at the end of the first half. Orlando was getting a little bit of momentum. Their fans were getting into it. So at halftime, the simplest message was that we had to keep the ball and we were our own worst enemy at that point. Defensively, we felt like we were doing okay. We knew Orlando had a disciplined defensive structure and would have to pull them out of their positions to unbalance them. I don't think we executed that well in the second half regarding what we needed to fix, but we were still hard to beat. That is what we will always fall back on, we will be hard to beat. Offensively, we just have to take care of the ball. We must be better moving the ball up the field and keeping it in the final third, that would help us. People get tired but you're going to get tired when you don't have the ball. The message at halftime was to keep the ball.”
