Houston Dash vs Angel City FC: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash saw their playoff hopes all but ended with a 2-1 loss at home to Angel City FC last night. Houston will travel to Orlando for the final match of the season, now needing a win and a lot of help to get into the postseason.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dash 1-2 Angel City FC
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva
Assistants: Maggie Short, Melissa Beck
Fourth Official: Sean Caouette
VAR: Kevin Broadley
Attendance: 9,175
Weather: 74 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
HOU: Andressa Alves (Nichelle Prince) 44’
ACFC: Alyssa Thompson (Savannah McCaskill) 68’
ACFC: Savannah McCaskill (Katie Johnson) 90+1’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
ACFC: Jasmyne Spencer (caution; foul) 17’
ACFC: Paige Nielsen (caution; foul) 39’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dash: Jane Campbell, Sarah Puntigam, Natalie Jacobs, Katie Lind, María Sánchez, Marisa Viggiano (Sophie Hirst 78’), Andressa Alves (Joelle Anderson 78’), Sophie Schmidt, Caprice Dydasco, Nichelle Prince (Diana Ordóñez 64’), Michelle Alozie
Unused Substitutes: Emily Alvarado, Madelyn Desiano, Ryan Gareis, Barbara Olivieri, Courtney Petersen, Ally Prisock
Total shots: 23 (María Sánchez 5)
Shots on goal: 10 (Andressa Alves and Nichelle Prince tied with 2)
Fouls: 6 (Sarah Puntigam and Sophie Schmidt tied with 2)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 6
Saves: 8 (Jane Campbell 8)
Angel City FC: Angelina Anderson, Jun Endo, Paige Nielsen, Sarah Gorden, Jasmyne Spencer (Ali Riley 82’), Madison Hammond (Dani Weatherholt 86’), Amandine Henry, Scarlett Camberos (Alyssa Thompson 65’), Savannah McCaskill, Claire Emslie (Clarisse Le Bihan 82’), Sydney Leroux (Katie Johnson 86’)
Unused substitutes: Brittany Isenhour, Megan Reid, Lily Nabet, Elizabeth Eddy
Total shots: 13 (Savannah McCaskill 4)
Shots on goal: 10 (Savannah McCaskill 4)
Fouls: 10 (Amandine Henry 3)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 11
Saves: 9 (Angelina Anderson 9)
HOUSTON DASH INTERIM HEAD COACH SARAH LOWDON
On the match:
“We gave it everything, we just lacked quality in the in the box unfortunately. When you have 27 shots and 10 on target, you get punished in this league if you don't finish them.”
On Andressa Alves’ performance:
“Andressa came in and made a massive difference to our squad and obviously, the more we've played, the more comfortable she is on the field. She created a lot of opportunities for herself tonight. Right before halftime, just for her to get the goal she probably finished the hardest one but really proud of her. It's not easy moving from a different country, speaking a different language and we're trying to support her the best way possible to make sure we can maximize her talent on the field but also make sure she feels welcome here.”
On the team’s mentality for the last game:
“We have one game to finish the season and the message after the game was, ‘What's our best response to the situation?’ It's a test of our character and it's making sure that next week we show up and make sure that we give our best effort moving forward.”
On the outcome of the match:
“I'm just disappointed for the players to be honest. I can’t fault the effort. You see when we gave the ball away, where we've got people that are sprinting to get back, and again, I'm just disappointed for them. It's a heartbreaking way to lose. You play all season, it's a long season we saw obviously started in January and you play for moments like this, to kind of finish opportunities in the last two games of the season. It’s just unfortunate. I'm just really disappointed for them to be honest, because they'll see the work they put in day-in and day-out.”
HOUSTON DASH FORWARD MICHELLE ALOZIE
On the match:
“It was definitely a tough game. Gotham is one of the top teams in the league for a reason. We knew that they were going to come out really strong. It was really important for us to put away chances when we got them. Nichelle Prince and I have a lot of pace up the top, so we knew that those through balls would really benefit us and that's how we got the two goals. It was definitely a good win, our defense held it down, per usual. Jane Campbell had an amazing game in goal and we were able to make the important clearances off the line. It was a good team win today and strides to make that playoff push."
On the defensive effort:
"We've conceded the least amount of goals in this season for a reason. Hats off to our defense. We put our bodies on the line as we saw in this game and in every game. They are relentless back there and they show the Houston grit every time. I'm blessed to be able to play in front of them. I know that they're going to give it their all. So, I have to give it my all up the top"
On playing up top tonight:
“I love playing as a nine. It was my first position and I've always been a nine growing up. It felt good to be up there, but I'll play wherever for Houston, as you see that. We'll just always change, we're really fluid in our formation and everyone plays more than one position, which allows us to kind of just an amazing game and play for each other.”
HOUSTON DASH MIDFIELDER SOPHIE SCHMIDT
On shifting focus to the last game of the season:
“It's exciting that there's still something to play for in that last game. We know that it's not going to be easy. This league is crazy, like in terms of the competitiveness of it and the possibilities that could happen. We've put ourselves in a position to still be in the fight. We're going to put everything we have into that last game. Unfortunately, we couldn't help ourselves tonight. We'll try to make sure we do get the job done next game.”
On the record-breaking crowd:
“They were phenomenal. We could hear them, they brought the energy even when we were down 2-1. They used their voices to try to get us back in that game, it was phenomenal. It's exceptional that Houston showed up. They do care. There is a huge football community here and unfortunately, we weren't able to put on the show that we wanted to for our home fans. The excitement is really special to see and we're so thankful that they come out and support us the way they do.
