Match Preview: San Diego Wave FC vs. Houston Dash
Torero Stadium | San Diego, California – Saturday, August 14 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
San Diego forward Alex Morgan attempted seven shots against Orlando while teammate Taylor Kornieck had six, though neither were able to come up with a solution in front of goal in a 1-0 loss. Morgan now has five games this season with five or more shots (tied with Sophia Smith for most such games) while Kornieck has four, tied with Ashley Sanchez for third most such games in NWSL in 2022.
For Houston, Dash forward Ebony Salmon has been a catalyst in result-getting since her trade from Racing Louisville. Since July 16, Salmon has scored seven goals in five matches for the Dash, two more than any other NWSL player in that time. Salmon managed to find the back of her net in the team’s midweek victory over Gotham FC, and those seven goals scored are also more than seven different NWSL teams in that span (Orlando, Angel City, Washington, Gotham, Chicago, Louisville and San Diego).
Match facts: San Diego Wave FC welcomes the Houston Dash to Torero Stadium in the final game of Saturday’s action and last across the league over the weekend’s slate, with the hosts looking to bounce back from two defeats and the visiting Dash aiming to continue their momentum with four wins in their last five games.
San Diego fell 1-0 to the Pride on Saturday and has now lost consecutive matches in league play for the first time in franchise history. The Wave have failed to score multiple goals in any of their last five matches after doing so in six of their first 11 matches in league play, though they had set their own bar high in this regard.
Houston, though, has 17 points in its eight away matches this season (W5 D2 L1), outscoring opponents by a 15-to-8 margin. Only the Courage in 2018 (22 points, +15 GD) and Reign in 2014 (22 points, +10 GD) have had more points or a higher goal differential through eight road games of a season than the Dash.
The lone matchup between the two sides came in San Diego’s first ever league match on May 1, in which the visiting Wave defeated the Dash, 1-0. San Diego is now looking to add Houston to Chicago and Gotham FC as clubs it has beaten twice in the regular season.
