NWSL Playoffs Preview: Houston Dash vs. Kansas City Current
PNC Stadium | Houston, Texas – Sunday, October 16 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Houston Dash forward Ebony Salmon leads her side in the goals department with a remarkable nine goals in 12 appearances—all starts. Before missing the last two games of the Dash’s regular season, Salmon scored Houston’s lone goal in their 1-0 win over Chicago in mid-September but had failed to score in the two games prior to that. Overall, though, Salmon’s tally has her at nearly double the production of forward Nichelle Prince, whose five goals are impressive in their own right, with midfielder Sophie Schmidt and forward Michelle Alozie each contributing three goals apiece for third on the charts.
The Kansas City Current, however, are stacked full of attacking threats with four players on their side scoring four or more goals on the year compared to Houston’s two. Leading the way in scoring with seven goals is a tie between attacker CeCe Kizer and midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, with five of LaBonta’s tally coming from the penalty spot as the team’s primary spot kick taker. Coming in close behind with six goals on the year is forward Kristen Hamilton, who led the team in games played on the year (21) as well as games started (21), and midfielder Hailie Mace sits just below her with four goals on the season. In addition, goalkeeper Adrianna Franch made the third-most amount of saves across the league this season with a whopping 66 saves in 20 games played.
Match facts: The Houston Dash and the Kansas City Current meet in the first of two NWSL Quarterfinals on Sunday night, a match that pits the 4-seed Dash against the 5-seed Current at PNC Stadium. With the playoff places going down to the wire, a Houston win combined with a Kansas City loss to Houston resulted in the hosts making the leap over the Current on the final day.
Houston enters with the better momentum on paper having won two of their final three outings, first against Chicago and then against Washington, sandwiched by a loss to OL Reign. Forward Ebony Salmon continued to show opponents why she’s the most feared attacker on the team sheet with a clinical finish against Chicago to beat the Red Stars, and Houston’s misstep against OL Reign in the penultimate game of the season saw them bounce back to defeat Washington, 2-1, as an own goal in the 58th minute eventually propelled them to the three points.
Meanwhile, the Current won just one of their final four matches, a 3-0 win over Washington, as they fell from the top of the standings and back into the playoff race. First, it was a 4-0 loss to Chicago that was followed by a valuable point earned against Portland in a 1-1 tussle. Then, the Current got their win over Washington at home, but lost to Racing Louisville, 1-0, as the side conceded the winner in the second minute of stoppage time as forward Jessica McDonald scored in the dying embers of the match.
These two sides have met twice already this season, with each team securing a road victory in the matchup. First, it was an impressive clean sheet and two-goal victory for the Dash in May at Children’s Mercy Park with former Dash star Rachel Daly netting in the first half and midfielder Bri Visalli scoring in the sixth minute of stoppage time. However, in early July, the Current held a 2-0 lead in Houston before an own goal in the tenth minute of stoppage time preventing Kansas City from hitting the same mark in their outing on the road.
