The Houston Dash will head to the West Coast for the final time this season to take on the San Diego Wave FC at 9:00 p.m. CT on Saturday evening. The game will be stream live on Twitch.
The Dash close a three-game stretch on Saturday that began last Friday with a scoreless draw with Racing Louisville at PNC Stadium. That was Houston’s fifth clean sheet of the season and Houston earned all three points in their last outing on Wednesday against NY/NY Gotham FC.
Wednesday’s victory extended Houston’s unbeaten streak under interim head coach Juan Carlos Amoros to five games. Entering Saturday's match, the Dash are tied with Portland for first place with 28 points at the top of the league standings.
Forward Ebony Salmon scored her career-high seventh goal of the regular season on Wednesday to open the scoring in the 73rd minute of the half. Salmon’s left-footed shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and rebounded into the back of the net for the first of three goals in a seven-minute span. Three minutes later midfielder Marisa Viggiano extended the lead after scoring from the top of the 18-yard box. Viggiano found an opening between two Gotham defenders for her first goal of the season.
San Diego enters the game following back-to-back home losses to Kansas City on Aug. 7 and Orlando on Aug. 13. The Wave found themselves trailing the Pride after Orlando converted a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. The Wave offense, which features golden boot front runner Alex Morgan, were relentless in their pursuit to equalize and outshot the Pride 17 to eight in the loss and forced six saves. San Diego will be without goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who was given a red card in the sixth minute of stoppage time after the referee deemed Sheridan used foul and abusive language.
The Dash return to PNC Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 27 to take on the reigning NWSL Champion Washington Spirit at 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will air locally on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, streamed nationally on Paramount+ and internationally on Twitch.
Here are three key points ahead of Wednesday's match:
- BOLSTERING THE DEFENSE: On Friday morning, the Dash announced the acquisition of Caprice Dydasco, who is the reigning NWSL Defender of the Year. Dydasco met with media members earlier in the day and is expected to be available for selection for Saturday’s match against the Wave. Dydasco, who comes from NJ/NY Gotham, has appeared and started in every game for Gotham this season. The Honolulu, Hawaii native is in her eighth season in the NWSL and is coming off a standout campaign where she was named to the NWSL’s Best XI team and earned an ESPY nomination.
- MONUMENTAL MATCH UP: The Wave are in third place behind the Dash with a 7-5-4 record and 25 points on the season. With six games remaining in the regular season the race to the playoffs is heating up. The top two seeds in the league table get a first-round bye to open the postseason and host their opponent in the second round of the playoffs. Houston, who is vying to make its first ever playoff appearance in club history, is looking to not only maintain its second place seeding, but also continue climbing the table.
- SAN DIEGO’S STAR-STUDDED LINEUP: Despite its last two results, the San Diego Wave have been in the top half of the standings all season long. The first-year club features key players like forward Alex Morgan, who has scored 11 of San Diego’s 21 goals. Former Dash defender Abby Dahlkemper, who anchors the San Diego backline alongside Rookie of the Year contender Naomi Girma. However, the Wave will be without goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who was given a red card at the end of their match vs. Orlando.
