Shell Energy Stadium | Houston, Texas – Saturday, June 3 at 8:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Since the beginning of 2022, Houston attacker María Sánchez has 10 assists across all NWSL competitions, the most of any player. Additionally, nine different goalscorers have been assisted by Sánchez in that time with no other NWSL player assisting more than six different players in that time. This season already, Sánchez has four goal contributions in nine games with only fellow forwards Ebony Salmon and Diana Ordóñez having more than one (2).
Orlando’s attack has cooled since scoring four goals in two games on April 30 and May 7, with the Pride only scoring two goals in its last three games and only one of those coming in open play. Brazilian superstar Martaetched her name on the scoresheet for the first time this season with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute before defender Kylie Strom did the same from open play in the 77th minute to help Orlando earn a 2-1 win over Washington.
Match facts: The Houston Dash host the Orlando Pride on Saturday night with the Dash looking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat against San Diego in their last outing at Shell Energy Stadium. The Dash do enter, however, off the back of a win and currently sit in 7th place with 12 points while the Pride sit in 9th place with 10 points, behind Louisville only on goal differential.
On Friday, the Dash notched their first shutout win of the regular season with a 2-0 road victory over Kansas City. Since the beginning of 2021, Houston is unbeaten in the regular season when scoring multiple goals (W19 D3), joining OL Reign as the only undefeated teams in such games in that time. However, Houston has also taken just four points from four home games this season (W1 D1 L2), scoring multiple goals only in their win.
The Pride fell to Chicago in their last time out despite outshooting the Red Stars, 19 to 2, in the match, including 11 to 0 in the second half. The last NWSL team to take that many shots in a match while allowing no more than two was the Utah Royals against the Spirit in August of 2018 (21 to 2). With the 1-0 loss, Orlando’s four-game unbeaten streak in league play came to an end. Despite the loss, the Pride have conceded just three goals over their last five regular season games, the team’s fewest allowed over a five-game span since allowing two in April-May 2018.
The last time Houston hosted Orlando was exactly one year prior to Saturday’s matchup with the Dash earning of 5-0 win over the Pride on June 3, 2022. The victory was the largest shutout win in Dash team history.
Noted (via Jen Cooper, The Keeper):
- Next appearance for Houston defender Ally Prisock will be the 50th in regular season play, all with Dash. She has started all but one of her appearances.
- Next appearance for Orlando attacker Marta will set a new club record for regular season appearances (she’s currently at 81, tied with former Pride players Toni Pressley and Ashlyn Harris).
- Next goal for Orlando midfielder Erika Tymrak will be the 20th of her NWSL regular season career.
