The Houston Dash will host expansion side Angel City FC at PNC Stadium for the second meeting of the regular season. The match will air locally on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and available to stream on Paramount+ (national) and Twitch (intl.).
The Dash look to earn key points in the final four games of the regular season as the team continues to push for its first playoff berth in club history. The Dash currently sit in second place with 29 points and an 8-5-5 overall record. Sunday’s match will be the penultimate home game of the regular season. Houston will close out September at home against OL Reign on Sept. 24.
The Dash and Angel City met earlier this year at Banc of California Stadium in the heart of Los Angeles on June 7. Houston and ACFC played to a 0-0 draw in front of more than 16,000 fans. With the draw, Houston extended its unbeaten run to six games during the first half of the season. Goalkeeper Jane Campbell made a double save in the 69th minute to keep the score level.
Houston is looking to build off a draw at home against Washington Spirit on August 27. Houston took the lead in the first half after midfielder Sophie Schmidt, who was named Canada’s Player of the Month for August, scored her third goal of the regular season. Schmidt put the ball away after the rebound from the Washington’s goalkeeper fell right to her feet. Forward Michelle Alozie scored the equalizer in the first minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the Dash who are trying to maintain pace at the top of the table.
First year club Angel City FC enters Sunday's match after playing the Mexico Women’s National Team on Sept. 5 at Banc of California Stadium. Houston forward Maria Sanchez earned the start in Mexico’s 2-0 win over ACFC. In NWSL play, Angel City is coming off a 3-1 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC before the international break. ACFC is currently in seventh place and only a point behind Chicago for the sixth and final playoff spot.
The Dash will take the road for the first time this month to take on the Red Stars for the final time this season on Sept. 17.
Here are three key points ahead of Sunday's match:
- NEW LEADERSHIP: Earlier this week, the Dash formally introduced Alex Singer as the team’s general manager. Singer played seven seasons of professional soccer, including a season with the Washington Spirit. She is the first standalone general manager in club history. Singer joins the team after five years with Octagon, where she played key roles in growing the agency’s women’s soccer footprint and was part of the team that negotiated the most lucrative player contract in NWSL history.
- INTERNATIONAL ACTION: Houston had five players join their respective national teams for a mix of international friendlies and World Cup qualifying matches. Forward Nichelle Prince and midfielder Sophie Schmidt joined Canada as they traveled to New Zealand for pair of friendlies. The Can WNT took both matches with 1-0 and 2-1 victories. Forward Ebony Salmon, who earned her second career call up to the England National Team, was available off the bench for both matches against Austria and Luxembourg. Forward Michelle Alozie and Nigeria took on the USWNT in a pair of friendlies in Kansas City and Washington D.C. Alozie earned starts in both matches. Defender Tierrny Wiltshire traveled to South Korea with the Jamaican Women’s National team for a friendly on Sept. 3. Wiltshire, who joined the Dash before the international break, earned a start in the match against South Korea.
- ANGEL CITY’S CHANGES: The LA based team has gone through a few changes since they last faced the Dash in early June. Most notably they will be without forward Christen Press, who had two shots and one on target against the Dash in the 0-0 draw. Press suffered a torn ACL in mid-June and was ruled out for the remainder of ACFC’s inaugural season. However, Ange City acquired veteran forward Sydney Leroux from Orlando in a trade. Since joining Angel City, Leroux has started in two of her three matches so far for ACFC.
