Preview: Dash at Portland Thorns FC

The Houston Dash will look to earn their fifth victory of the season tonight as they take on the Portland Thorns at 9:30 p.m. CDT at the Providence Park. A win tonight could vault Houston back into the top five of the NWSL table and keep them in the thick of the playoff race.

Here are three key points ahead of tonight’s game:  

1. DASH TAKE ON FIRST-PLACE THORNS – Houston will look for revenge against Portland after falling in their last matchup earlier this year at BBVA Stadium. The Dash took the lead when forward Kyah Simon headed a ball into the right side of the net from a free-kick midfielder Christine Nairnserved into the box. The Thorns bounced back in a second-half surge when Tyler Lussi and Midge Purce found the back of the net to give Portland three points on the road.

2.     WORLD CUP FACE-OFF – While the Dash are back with their full squad after forward Rachel Daly came back from helping England reach the third-place match at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Thorns will feature their World Cup players as well. Houston’s Canadian players Allysha Chapman, Lindsay Agnew and Sophie Schmidt will look to shut down USWNT’s Lindsay Horan, Tobin Heath and Emily Sonnett this evening at Providence Park.

3.      HOUSTON LOOKS TO ATTACK – With Daly back, the Dash will look to maximize with their attacking pieces that include midfielder Kristie Mewis, who is tied with Daly for the most goals on the team this season with three, midfielder Sofia Huerta and Simon. In Houston’s last victory four days ago, Daly and Huerta combined in a play to assist Mewis in scoring their first goal of the game. Simon, who is coming back from an injury, has scored two goals in the last four games this season.