The Houston Dash earned their first-ever points against the Seattle Reign along with their first win at home of 2018 last night when they completed a 2-1 comeback win to secure three points in a midweek battle. Beverly Yanez opened up scoring in the first half for the Reign, but two second half goal, one from Kristie Mewis and the other from Veronica Latsko in stoppage time, spoiled the win for Seattle.
The offensive statistics for the match were even, save for possession. Seattle lead shots 21-18, but both sides recorded six shots on goal each. The Reign also led corners, earning six to the Dash’s four, but both sides had 17 crosses each. The largest gap was in possession where the Reign had 62.3% of possession against Houston’s 37.7%.
Seattle scores early in the match
The Reign came out of the locker room ready to attack, forcing Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell to come up with early saves. The first came in the second minute after a Houston turnover bounced off of defender Steph Catley and landed at the feet of Jodie Taylor who dribbled around defenders and took a shot from the center of the box. Campbell was able to get a hand on the ball to stop it from going into the net.
Seattle kept up the attack and it paid off in the 13th minute thanks to Yanez’s goal. It was a build-up play with Allie Long sending the ball into the box to Taylor. The English-international turned and passed the ball to Yanez who was able to curl the ball on the ground out of reach of a diving Campbell. It was Yanez’s second goal of the season and her second in the month of May.
Houston comes back in the second half
The Dash kept fighting back and the attack paid off. The first goal came in the 68th minute off of a free kick. Reign defender Kristen McNabb earned a yellow card for a foul on Nichelle Prince, setting up the free kick in the Dash’s attacking half. Rachel Daly stepped up to take it and sent the ball into the box to Mewis who headed the ball down to her feet and took the shot, sending it past the Reign defenders and into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
Houston kept looking for the game-winning goal and had several chances. They finally capitalized on a counter attack in second-half stoppage time. After a Seattle shot hit off the post, Allysha Chapman cleared the ball out to Kyah Simon who got it to Daly. Daly passed the ball to a streaking Thembi Kgatlana on the left flank. Kgatlana split her defenders and passed the ball across to Latsko who took the shot. The ball deflected off of Catley and went into the back of the net for Latsko’s second goal of the season, sealing the win.
The Reign will play their third game in eight days when they travel to New Jersey to take on Sky Blue FC on Saturday May 26 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Houston will stay at home to host the Washington Spirit on Sunday May 27 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT. Both games will be streamed live on go90.