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Houston, Texas (10/04/2026) – The Washington Spirit earned an important 3-2 away win over the Houston Dash on Sunday night, moving to the brink of clinching its third consecutive playoff berth in the process.
Defender Tara Rudd tallied her third goal of the season in the 11th minute, giving Washington an early lead amid a largely dominant first half in the attacking third. Fellow defender Esme Morgan provided service on a corner kick and Rudd connected with her second header goal of the year in the box. The Spirit maintained 66 percent possession through the opening 15 minutes of the match.
Washington was able to take another six shots over the next 30 minutes of play, including three on frame to force Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell to make saves. The Spirit also kept the ball in the Dash defensive third for over seven minutes of the middle third of the first half as well.
Just before halftime, Houston was able to make the most of a rare attacking chance and level the match at one goal apiece. In the 44th minute, Miljana Ivanović netted her first career NWSL goal on a rebound chance to bring the Dash back even.
Less than six minutes into the second half, Washington regained the lead. Forward Sofia Cantore made a perfectly timed run in the final third to receive a ball from Trinity Rodman and finish a one-on-one opportunity in the box. The goal was the tenth of Cantore’s regular season career, making her the third person on the current Spirit roster to reach the mark after Rodman and Ashley Hatch.
Over the following ten minutes, the Dash attack began to put more pressure on the Spirit defending third with four shots and two on target. In the 58th minute, Houston’s Sarah Puntigam fired a deep shot on target that was met by a diving Sandy MacIver who put the ball out for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner, Ivanović found a loose ball in the box and buried it into the back of the net to level the match at two.
Washington began to make substitutions a few minutes later, sending Clara Luvanga, Rosemonde Kouassi and Monique Ngock into the match for Mélissa Bethi, Cantore and Hal Hershfelt, respectively. The Spirit continued to find attacking chances but was unable to find a third go-ahead score. Late in the second half, the away side sent Claudia Martínez on for Hatch as it looked for a winner.
In the 80th minute, the Dash nearly found its first lead of the night when Clarissa Larisey put a header off the crossbar. Just four minutes later, however, Luvanga would deliver for Washington in just her second match with the side. Martínez found Luvanga entering the box with a through ball and the NWSL’s first-ever Tanzanian player did the rest to beat Campbell with a strike into the net for a 3-2 lead.
The Houston attacking third would land two more shots on target over the final ten minutes of action but both were easily corralled by MacIver and Washington ran the clock out to earn an important three points. With the win, the Spirit moved to nine points above the playoff line and five points above the quarterfinal hosting line with three matches to play.
Next up, many Spirit players will head off for international duty before the team returns to play at Audi Field for a meeting with rival Gotham FC on Saturday, October 17. Kicking off at 12:30 p.m. EDT, tickets are available at WashingtonSpirit.com/tickets.
-NWSL Match Report-
Match: Houston Dash vs. Washington Spirit
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CDT
Weather: Cloudy, high-70s
Scoring Summary:
| Goals | 1 | 2 | F |
| Houston | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Washington | 1 | 2 | 3 |
WAS – Tara Rudd – 11′ (assisted by Esme Morgan)
HOU – Miljana Ivanović – 44′
WAS – Sofia Cantore – 51′ (assisted by Trinity Rodman)
HOU – Miljana Ivanović – 59’
WAS – Clara Luvanga – 84′ (assisted by Claudia Martínez)
Lineups:
HOU: 1 – Jane Campbell; 27 – Lisa Boattin (6 – Messiah Bright, 85’); 4 – Leah Klenke; 14 – Paige Nielsen; 15 – Avery Patterson; 17 – Sarah Puntigam; 22 – Kat Rader; 19 – Maggie Graham; 47 – Miljana Ivanović (9 – Clarissa Larisey, 70’); 23 – Kate Faasse (13 – Sophie Schmidt, 46’); 12 – Kiki Van Zanten (34 – Khyah Harper, 60’)
Unused Substitutes: 40 – Caroline DeLisle; 2 – Allysha Chapman; 8 – Natalie Bain; 18 – Cate Hardin; 99 – Jordan Brewster
WAS: 18 – Sandy MacIver; 14 – Gabrielle Carle; 24 – Esme Morgan; 9 – Tara Rudd; 13 – Lucia Di Guglielmo; 7 – Mélissa Bethi (25 – Clara Luvanga, 66‘); 12 – Andi Sullivan; 17 – Hal Hershfelt (8 – Monique Ngock, 66‘); 2 – Trinity Rodman; 33 – Ashley Hatch (11 – Claudia Martínez, 77‘); 27 – Sofia Cantore (19 – Rosemonde Kouassi, 66‘)
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sara Wojdelko; 5 – Élisabeth Tsé; 16 – Tamara Bolt; 26 – Paige Metayer; 35 – Madison Haugen
Stats Summary: HOU / WAS
Shots: 13 / 25
Shots On Goal: 6 / 8
Saves: 4 / 5
Fouls: 9 / 4
Offsides: 3 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
HOU – Clarissa Larisey – 86′ – Yellow Card
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