Players to watch:
Washington forward Ashley Hatch scored the match-winning goal from the penalty spot in Washington’s 2-1 victory over the Courage on Saturday. It was Hatch’s 29th goal in all NWSL competitions since the start of the 2021 season, tied with Sophia Smith for the most of any player in the league in that time. Hatch has already tacked on three goals in three regular season games as well, with teammate Trinity Rodman scoring the club’s two other goals in an unbeaten start.
Houston forward Ebony Salmon attempted five shots in Houston’s draw on Friday and has taken a team-high 11 shots this season. Since debuting for the Dash last July, Salmon has attempted 48 shots, nearly twice as many as any other Dash player, as only Sophia Smith (78) and Morgan Weaver (53) have taken more in that time. Though Salmon is not on the scoresheet yet this season, teammates Ashley Sánchez and Diana Ordóñez have scored in Houston’s own unbeaten start.
Match facts: The Washington Spirit welcome the Houston Dash to Audi Field on Saturday night, looking to extend their unbeaten run in the league to four games after two wins and a draw to start the year. Meanwhile, the Dash are also riding an unbeaten streak of their own (W1 D2) and will look to avoid defeat in their third consecutive away game.
The Spirit fell 1-0 to Gotham FC in midweek’s Challenge Cup action, but with obvious rotation having taken place. In the league, Washington’s 2-1 win over North Carolina on the road last week has only helped continue its record-pacing start to the year. The three-game unbeaten run is just the second time in club history (W3 – 2016 season) the feat has been achieved, meaning a win over Houston would equal Washington’s win total from all of the 2022 regular season. In addition, Washington beat OL Reign, 1-0, thanks to Trinity Rodman’s second half goal to start the year in their only other match at home.
Houston’s scoreless draw to start the year was followed up with two more impressive results—a 2-1 win over Chicago on the road and a 1-1 draw in Portland. This pushes the Dash to a three-game unbeaten run with only a loss to Kansas City midweek in the Challenge Cup preventing them from extending their streak in all competitions. Heading back on the road, Houston has suffered only two defeats in 13 regular season road matches since the start of last season (W8 D3). Only North Carolina between 2017 and 2019 (32) has collected more points in a span of 13 road matches in NWSL history than Houston’s 27 since the start of last season.
The Dash have won three of their last six visits to Washington (D1 L2) dating back to 2018 after winning just one of their first six matches at the Spirit (L5). Houston only has more road wins against Gotham FC (5) than its four at the Spirit.
