Houston Dash at Washington Spirit: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash suffered their sixth straight loss in league play, falling 3-0 to the Washington Spirit on Sunday afternoon.
MATCH SUMMARY
Washington Spirit 3-0 Houston Dash
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Venue: Audi Field - Washington, D.C.
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistants: Joe Suchoski, A. Max Smith
Fourth Official: Marie Durr
VAR: Adorae Monroy
Attendance: 5,883
Weather: 83 degrees, sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
WAS: Ashley Hatch (penalty kick) 7’
WAS: Ashley Hatch (Trinity Rodman) 26’
WAS: Trinity Rodman (unassisted) 46’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
HOU: Allysha Chapman (caution; foul) 45+9’
LINEUPS & STATS
Washington Spirit: Aubrey Kingsbury (c), Casey Krueger (Paige Metayer 74’), Esme Morgan, Tara McKeown, Gabrielle Carle, Hal Hershfelt (Courtney Brown 69’), Andi Sullivan (Heather Stainbrook 64’), Trinity Rodman (Makenna Morris 69’), Leicy Santos (Lena Silano 64’), Brittany Ratcliffe, Ashley Hatch
Unused Substitutes: Annaig Butel Rosemonde Kouassi, Jenna Butler
Total shots: 17 (Brittany Ratcliffe 5)
Shots on goal: 8 (three players tied with 2)
Fouls: 11 (Gabrielle Carle 4)
Offside: 3 (Brittany Ratcliffe 2)
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 2 (Aubrey Kingsbury 2)
Houston Dash: Jane Campbell (c), Allysha Chapman (Havana Solaun 46’), Paige Nielsen (Croix Soto 90+4’), Jyllissa Harris, Michelle Alozie, Sarah Puntigam, Elin Rubensson, Avery Patterson (Ryan Gareis 75’), Yuki Nagasato (Belle Briede 64’), Andressa Alves (Barbara Olivieri 64’), Diana Ordóñez
Unused substitutes: Natalie Jacobs, Heather Hinz, Erin McKinney
Total shots: 6 (Avery Patterson 2)
Shots on goal: 2 (Andressa and Jyllissa Harris tied with 1)
Fouls: 7 (Allysha Chapman and Sarah Puntigam tied with 2)
Offside: 1 (Diana Ordóñez 1)
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 5 (Jane Campbell 5)
HOUSTON DASH ASSISTANT COACH RICKY CLARKE
On the match:
"The performance wasn’t where it needed to be because we lost 3-0. It wasn't at the level that we set or the standards we set. I will say, this week we've had some really big injuries hit the group, but that's no excuse. That's an opportunity for other people to step up and step into the starting lineup and bring the energy that we talk about. We know that at this moment, we're in a difficult space. We have to stick together. We have to make sure that we turn up each week. That we look after each other, we work together, and that's what we're going to keep doing. We're going to take it one game at a time and focus on the next game."
On Ryan Gareis’ return:
“(Ryan Gareis) has been working incredibly hard. She worked incredibly hard (on her own) to get back on the field and be ready to play before the end of the season. For us, it's great to see her step on the field. We've had two moms this season step back onto the field and we're incredibly thankful that they're back on the field and they're helping us. We're extremely excited for Ryan."
On the team sticking together:
"When it's difficult, you have to stick together. We've been through a lot. This is where I would say I have empathy for the group. I have empathy for the staff, and where we are right now as an organization. We also know that we can't keep using it as an excuse and we have to control what happens inside the field. With that, there's things we can control. We can control our attitude, our response, how we speak with each other, how we work with each other. There's always controllables. We have to stick with those controllables. Working together, working through difficult moments, and leaning into each other in those moments. That's what makes us better. We're not looking at six games, not looking at seven games. We speak about one game at a time. What does the next game ask of us? We try and prepare that way. I have an incredible staff that's working all the hours under the sun right now to make sure that we can be in a place where we can be successful. We have players that are working beyond the minutes that they scheduled for training to do extra work and try and improve our performance. We're just in a difficult space. The most important thing is while you're in that space is that you lean into it, but you lean into it and stay together. That's what we keep talking about. We're a team where we look after each other and we try and stick together."
On the team’s attitude to challenges:
"The group does it. We talk about it all the time. We speak about ways in which we can work in better places where we can push each other, drive each other. It's always a group effort. Most successful teams or organizations aren't there because of one player. They're there because of a collective effort. That's the one thing we're constantly preaching on the field. We have to be together; we have to work together. The more consistent we come with that mentality, the better the performances are going to start to be. The more consistent the performances are going to start to be."
On the penalty call early in the match:
“We just have to control the way we respond. This is a league that's unforgiving at times. Some things haven't gone our way in the last couple of games. How do we control that? Well, we respond, and we forget about it, put it to the side and we move on. To be honest with you, I thought we did a really good job of moving on from that moment so early in the game. We perhaps gave Trinity Rodman too much respect and she punished us with the second goal. For me, the penalties are the penalties. If they think it's a penalty, it's a penalty. We just have to move on and respond."
On Ryan Gareis:
"We're incredibly excited about Ryan (Gareis) being back on the field. In the short time that she was on the field, you could see what Ryan brings to this group. She's attacking and she's dynamic. Within the first five minutes she was on the field, she beat the full back and whipped in two crosses. We're excited that she's going to bring that back to the group. We're looking forward to seeing her on the field as we close the season.”
HOUSTON DASH DEFENDER PAIGE NIELSEN
On where the team stands:
“I do think we played well during certain moments, but that's not enough for this league. We need to be more disciplined in our shape and our identity of play. You see what we're trying to do, but we don't do enough in execution. We play a little bit too slow. We have so many players coming off injury or that played for the first time tonight and did a really good job, but we need to start figuring out our identity and training it over and over and over at training with all the pieces that we have now. We need to change things around. Defensively, being disciplined, getting our attackers higher up the field and keeping it down by the box. I think we go to the goal a little too fast when we don't have a lot of support."
On what the team needs to do to improve:
“Working hard doesn't really get you anywhere, especially in this league, when everyone else works hard. I have the utmost respect for our staff and our players. We work so hard for each other, but it's not enough. You have to do all the small things right in this league. Whether that means throw ins, corners, forcing people outside, making sure that they don't cut in. All of these things, you have to train over and over again and uphold this level of standards. In May, we signed five new players. Now some players aren't even in for the people that we signed. We have a lot of girls again coming back. Ingraining that identity, even off the field, when you're coming back from injury, so you know when you get put on the field, what exactly to do. We have to train our build-out even more and just repeat stuff over and over. That change doesn't come overnight. That takes years to build. The Spirit had an identity tonight and I knew exactly what they were going to do every time it started to build out and we couldn't really solve it."
On the changes needed for the team to succeed:
“The one thing I can say that I've learned from my experience is you don't dwell on the past. You do learn from it. You watch the videos, you watch your individual performance, but you also watch your team's performance, and you move on. We've had a rough season. However, one win can change the entire route of the rest of the season. The big thing for a team is purpose and having a goal. Right now, we feel so far from that. It's really tough to feel like we can reach a goal. It's sitting down with each other and saying, 'What do we want out of the last quarter of the season and hone-in on that.' We're athletes, we like goals and we need to start with little goals and hopefully we can reach a big goal in the future."
