OL Reign ice out Dash to keep playoff dream waiting

HOUSTON - It didn’t feel like your typical Houston Dash match in late September. A season-high crowd of 7,798 dripped into PNC Stadium to watch their home team qualify for the NWSL playoffs for the first time in the club’s history. Belief was in the air. 

However, like so many typical Dash nights of old, hope and reality did not align. Needing a win to clinch playoffs, Houston came up short in a 2-0 defeat to the OL Reign. Goals from Bethany Balcer and Veronica Latsko were the difference on a night when the Dash failed to find a way past a composed and organized Reign side.

"We are disappointed because of the fans and the situation but this is football. We can keep our heads high and keep working hard," said Dash interim head coach Juan Carlos Amoros at full time.

It was a cagey affair on a night when neither team allowed the other much space at all. The Reign’s midfield of Quinn, Jess Fishlock, and Rose Lavelle were at the peak of their powers. They suffocated their opponent's creativity and calmly ushered the ball away from danger. When a rare chance did appear, they took it.

"Megan [Rapinoe], Jess [Fishlock], they have quality players who are really good at managing those minutes and seeing the game out. The players did everything they could, it just wasn't meant to be today," said Amoros. "I am so proud of them." 

While the Dash struggled to break down the Reign’s stubborn shape and risk aversion on the ball, they were at least defensively sound for almost the entire match. 

Balcer’s goal was the Reign’s first shot of the match in the 29th minute. Shortly after, Lavelle shot straight at Jane Campbell from close range and then Megan Rapinoe hit the crossbar from an audacious corner kick just before halftime. But that was it for early pressure from the visitors. 

By contrast, Houston didn’t find its spark until the second period. Halftime substitute Valerie Gauvin helped give the Dash more presence up front. Maria Sanchez thrashed the crossbar in the 50th minute on a direct free kick from the edge of the box. Moments later Nichelle Prince struck a hopeful shot from 20 yards out straight into the hands of Phallon Tulils-Joyce. 

That spark never ignited, though. Even with the visitors retreating into their shells, the home team couldn’t find a way through. While the Texas night may have stayed warm, Houston’s attack cooled off and faded away.

In the 76th minute, against the run of play, former Dash forward Latsko delivered the killer blow. Lavelle slammed a long-range effort against the post, and Latsko was the first to follow up the shot and tap it into the open net. 

"They did well, they were just more clinical. We kind of let the game slip away from us in the second half," Dash midfielder Sophie Schmidt reflected.

The loss keeps the Dash in fourth place in the NWSL standings. Three points ahead of sixth-placed North Carolina Courage, who won 3-0 away to NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday night. The NWSL will have its final round of matches next weekend. 

Here are some takeaways from the night Houston missed a chance to make the playoffs:

Press resistant 

Seattle head coach Laura Harvey came to Houston with a plan. She had clearly studied how the Dash has been playing under Amoros and deserves plenty of credit for how set her team up on Saturday night.

Harvey instructed her team to avoid possessing the ball in the Reign third of the pitch, especially in and around their own defensive box. Every goal kick on the night was sent long, punted towards the halfway line, or beyond. If the Reign won the ball back more often than not, they chose to clear their lines than try and build an attack. Before tonight, the Seattle club averaged 16 clearances per match. On Saturday night, it had 29. 

"It shows the respect that the other teams have for us. They went direct and long. I thought we did well in the first half. It's a testament to how well we have been playing," said Schmidt about the Reign's tactics.  

We’ve become accustomed to the Dash opening matches with a slew of turnovers and high-pressing soccer. Often that results in chances, sometimes goals and at the very least helps unsettle Houston’s opponent. 

In this one, the Dash went into the break with just three interceptions, all in the Houston half. Similarly, of the six tackles that Houston won in the first half, only one of them was in the final third of the pitch Reign defended. After the visitors scored, the task of winning high turnovers got even more unlikely. 

It was a conservative approach from Harvey and the Reign but it worked. The Dash couldn’t find their trademark early hustle and verve. OL dictated the tempo of the match. — a tempo that was disjointed, slow, and lacking in transitional soccer. 

"It says a lot about the work the girls are doing. We were playing some of the best U.S. national team players and they approach the game in that way, which means we are doing something right. We could have won it as well, it's fine details," said Amoros about the Reign's setup.

No Salmon or a lack of creativity?

In a match of fine margins, the absence of Ebony Salmon was felt significantly. The Dash were missing a scoring presence in the box. Michelle Alozie, who started in place of the missing Salmon, was relentless and energetic. She put in a fine performance for a player making her first-ever NWSL regular-season start. 

But Alozie couldn't turn touches in the box into shots. Being able to carve out those choice angles and incisive runs against some of the best defenders takes time. Salmon's ability to take one to two touches and create a goal-scoring chance was lacking. Even when Gauvin was brought on in the second half to provide more of a threat the same lack of cutting edge in the box persisted. Gauvin and Alozie finished the match with a combined xG of 0.12.

By Opta's metrics, the Dash took 17 total shots but created zero big chances. Of the three shots Houston had on target, two were blocked by defenders and the other was from 25 yards. Despite having 59% of possession on the night Houston couldn't work the ball into the box or pull the Reign out of position.

This could be a cause for concern for the Dash's creativity when "Plan A" doesn't come to fruition. After Houston went down 2-0, the team's chance creation dipped even further. When the tide turned against Amoros' team, it struggled to respond. 

"Honestly it was a pretty even battle, we had opportunities. They had limited opportunities but they were able to capitalize," observed Dash defender Katie Naughton. "We were not. We tried to get forward as much as possible. The second goal was the dagger, but I'm still proud of the group."

Deja vu? 

The nerves will be rising amongst the Houston fanbase. Is it happening again? Are the Dash going to once again collapse at the final hurdle and fail to make it to the NWSL playoffs for a ninth consecutive regular season? 

Almost exactly a year ago Houston needed just a single point to clinch at home against the Portland Thorns in its final home match of 2021. The Dash lost that match and then went to Audi Field on the season's final day to play the Washington Spirit needing at least a draw to go to the postseason. 

You don't need me to remind you what happened next, but I will anyway. Houston lost 1-0 and the infamous "Disaster in D.C." was born. 

Here we are one year later, in the early throes of fall, and the Dash must travel to D.C. on the final day of the season needing a result to guarantee a spot in the NWSL playoffs. 

The oddity of the same situation arising in consecutive seasons was not lost on Schmidt. "We know how last year unfolded. We were down in spirit [then]. We have the belief getting in the result, to go there [next weekend] and get the win. It's kind of weird it comes down to the same result but we're ready," she said. 

Naughton also shared Schmidt's sense belief that this year's squad was different, and would not repeat last year's capitulation in the nation's capital. 

"We don't need a reminder of what happened last year. It's redemption. It's a new book."