Finishing the First round with a Win; Spirit beats Houston

The Washington Spirit gets a win in their last match of the preliminary round as they beat the Houston Dash 1-0.

The DC team came to this match after getting a 1-1 draw against the Portland Thorns. And after a long week without a match, they were rested and ready to get 3-points which will position them high in the standings.

On the other side the Houston Dash, which had only a four-day break, wanted to bounce back from a bad result they had against Sky Blue where they loss 2-0. In addition, they also were looking to position themselves in the top half of the standings if they were able to get the win.

The game started with the Spirit looking to get the win from the starting whistle. They were controlling the possession of the ball and as a result, they have long possessions, which opened them spaces in their last third. Because of this, they were creating many scoring opportunities that came from different players and in different ways, so the Houston defense struggled since the Spirit attacks were not predictable.

Houston was also looking to have the possession of the ball. The fast and dynamic game they have makes them very dangerous especially in the counter attacks. Dash coach James Clarkson included Sophie Schmidt in the starting lineup. She was a key player in their victory against OL Reign. She gives Houston the equilibrium this team needs in midfield in order to maximize the productivity of offensive players such as Rachel Daly and Shea Groom.

However, the team was not being precise on offense. The Spirit kept a compact defense, which complicated the Texas side. Veronica Latsko, and Katie Stengel, in addition to the mentioned Groom and Daly, were constantly switching positions in offense to try to surprise a very solid Washington defense. However, their attacks were very predictable making easier for the good Washington defense to control.

The first and only goal of the match came in at the the 16^th minute when Bayley Feist shot from outside the box to beat Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell to give her team the lead. After going up on the scoreboard, Washington control the ball and the rhythm of the match, whereas Houston continued to look very confused in offense.

Even though the Orange was struggling in their last third, a late first half comeback by the Texans made them have some chances to find the equalizer. However, they were not able to find the goal in their first 45’.

 

Things changed for the second half. The Houston Dash was controlling the rhythm of the game and possession of the ball. The Spirit wanted to keep a solid defensive performance and order in the back line was a key to leave this game with the win.

As the Orange pushed back all the Washington Spirit lines, they were finding more opportunities to score. However, they were not able to find the goal in the second 45’ and lost their second consecutive match of the tournament.

With the win, the Washington Spirit finished the preliminary round with 7 points. On the other hand, the Houston Dash finished this first round with 4 points. Now, both teams have to wait until the rest of the teams play their final match of the qualification round to learn which team will be their respective rival in the quarterfinals. However, there is a rival the Spirit has avoided after the win against the Dash, and that is the North Caroline Courage, which secured the first place of the preliminary stage.

As mentioned, these two team will be back in action in the knockout round when all eight teams play the quarterfinals which will take place on July 17^th and 18^th.