Spirit Heads to Texas For Duel With Dash

Washington Spirit  |   August 26, 2022
Spirit Heads to Texas For Duel With Dash Featured Image

Houston, TX (08/26/2022) – The Washington Spirit will take on the Houston Dash on Saturday night in the side’s first matchup with the team from Texas since last season’s regular season finale on Halloween.

In its first match in 17 days, the Spirit will be taking on the Houston Dash for the first time this season. After not facing Houston in almost ten months, Washington will meet the Dash twice in its final six regular season matches of 2022 over the course of five weeks. The Spirit will still be without midfielder/defender Julia Roddar, who suffered a knee injury in the July 10 match against Kansas City, and defender Emily Sonnett, whose foot injury sustained while on international duty has been deemed a season-ending one. Defender Kelley O’Hara will miss Saturday night’s action as well as she recovers from a lingering hip injury. Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Portland Thorns FC in which the Spirit conceded two goals after the 83rd minute, Washington will again look to snap its 17-match winless streak.

After a scoring explosion in the attacking third in the Spirit’s July 29 match in North Carolina in which both sides put up three goals, Washington has managed just one offensive goal in its past two contests with its only score against Thorns FC coming by way of an own goal. The Dash ranks third in the NWSL in goals scored with 29 as well as in the top half of the league in goals allowed at just 21. Houston’s +8 scoring margin is good for third-best in the league so far and means the Spirit’s second consecutive match against a top-three attacking third. The recent addition of defender Caprice Dydasco will likely add to Houston’s stout defense as well. Since Washington’s last match, the Dash has played three times, earning one win, one loss and one draw. With more than twice as much time off since its last match as its opponent, the Spirit will try to take advantage of its edge in rest and recovery time to earn three points for the first time in nearly four months.

The match will be broadcast on Paramount+ for fans in the United States and on Twitch for international viewers. Following the match, the Spirit will host a press conference with assistant coach Angela Salem and two players. Fans can stream the postgame presser via the Washington Spirit Twitch channel.

Availability Report

OUT:

Tori Huster – SEI left lower leg

Emily Sonnett – SEI foot

Julia Roddar – knee

Kelley O’Hara – hip

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