Shell Energy Stadium | Houston, Texas – Friday, April 28 at 8:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell kept the 24th clean sheet of her NWSL career against Washington on Saturday since joining the Dash in 2017. Campbell has been in the net for 92 percent of the Dash’s clean sheets in that time (24 of 26), the most among NWSL goalkeepers on teams with at least 10 clean sheets since 2017. Meanwhile, up top the side is led in goals by attacker María Sánchez, whose two goals put her just ahead of teammate Diana Ordóñez, who scored hers from the penalty spot. Sánchez and Ordóñez are the only two players to have scored for Houston on the year.
With two goals on the season, though none yet from open play, Courage forward Kerolin will help spearhead the North Carolina attack on Friday night on the road. Kerolin currently leads the team in goals, shots on target (5), total shots (9) and fouls won (9) with only one teammate joining her on the scoresheet this season. That teammate, forward Mille Gejl, though, is the only player to have scored a winner this year, with Gejl scoring the team’s lone goal in a 1-0 win against Kansas City while both of Kerolin’s goals have come in losses (3-1 at San Diego; 2-1 vs. Washington).
Match facts: The Houston Dash welcome the North Carolina Courage to Shell Energy Stadium on Friday night to kick off a full slate of NWSL matches across the weekend. The Dash enter still unbeaten with a win and three draws, with two of those draws coming in their last two games, splitting points on the road with both Portland and Washington. On the flip side, the North Carolina Courage have lost three straight, failing to win in two road contests against San Diego and Gotham, split by a loss at home against the Spirit.
Through four games this season, the Dash have collected six points to make it their first season without a loss in any of their first four games. Despite this, Houston has three seasons with more points after four games played, acquiring seven points in 2016, 2019, and 2022 (W2 D1 L1 in each season). Houston drew their only match of the year at home, though–a scoreless draw to open the season against Racing Louisville–meaning their return to familiar territory could provide enough momentum for a second win of the season.
The Courage are winless in their last four away matches (D2 L2), including a 1-1 draw against the Pride in the Challenge Cup. In all competitions, North Carolina has just one longer winless streak on the road, when the team went seven straight away matches without a win from August 2021 to April 2022 (D5 L2). In a 1-0 loss on Saturday, North Carolina allowed Gotham FC an average of 11.1 passes before making a defensive play on the ball, the team’s highest such figure in a game this season. By contrast, the Courage average the fewest passes allowed before making a defensive action of any team in the NWSL this season (8.4).
Early on in the matchup’s history, North Carolina dominated Houston in the league, winning seven of the first eight meetings from 2017 to 2019 (D1). However, since 2021, the Dash have bested the Courage in three of the four regular season matches (D1) and outscored them, 11-6, in that time.
