Match Preview: NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. Houston Dash
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, New Jersey – Sunday, July 31 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Gotham FC defender Ali Krieger, who played in her 150th regular season game in NWSL against Portland, was the only player to attempt multiple shots (two). It was the first time in Krieger’s NWSL career that she has led her team outright in shots in a game. Leading the team in goals, though, is forward Margaret Purce, whose two goals led her to being the side’s only multi-goal scorer. Goals have not been the side’s strong suit in general though, with the team scoring in just four of its 10 games this season.
Houston forward Ebony Salmon was absolutely on fire in her last time out, scoring three goals in the club’s 4-1 win over Chicago with the 21-year-old becoming the youngest player in NWSL history with a hat trick. Salmon also became the first English player to ever have a hat trick in an NWSL match. That tally helped bring her to third on the team’s scoring chart behind forwards Rachel Daly (4) and Nichelle Prince (5).
Match facts: Gotham FC welcomes the Houston Dash to Red Bull Arena in the first of two games on Sunday across the league and first between the two sides in the regular season.
Gotham FC allowed three goals in the first 11 minutes of the team’s 5-0 loss at Portland, the fewest minutes after kickoff that any NWSL team has ever allowed three goals. Those three goals also came in a six-minute span, the shortest span at any point of a game that Gotham has ever allowed three goals since the team’s founding in 2013. In fact, Gotham’s 2-1 win over Louisville is the only positive result for the side in their last five matches, losing the other four by a 12-goal margin while getting shutout in each match.
For the third time since the beginning of June, the Dash scored four or more goals in a match in the team’s 4-1 win over Chicago. Houston’s three games with 4+ goals in 2022 are the most the team has ever had in a single calendar year (all competitions). The Dash have experienced mixed results in their last four matches, winning two and losing two before the break in action.
The teams have met 19 previous times in all competitions but will be playing for the first time in 2022. Only once have both teams scored multiple goals in the same match with the fixture having featured teams getting shut out 10 different times.
