Houston Dash falls to NJ/NY Gotham FC and remains winless at home

Lynn Williams scored early in the first half as NJ/NY Gotham FC denied the Dash their first home win of the season with a 1-0 win in Houston’s second match of a doubleheader week NWSL game Wednesday night at Shell Energy Stadium.

Houston (1-4-3), which had a third-best score by four points after trailing in a game entering Wednesday, failed to salvage a point for the second straight game after battling for a 1-1 draw against Kansas City on Sunday. . The Dash’s winless streak extended to five games.

Gotham FC (3-2-2), which collected three points for the second consecutive game to rank seventh in the league standings with 11 points, extended its unbeaten streak to three games and ended a five-game winless streak against the Dash. back to 2021.

The Dash, who remain in 13th place with six points, were quiet offensively, with Diana Ordóñez recording the only shot of the first half on a right kick from outside the box which was saved by Ann- Katrin Berger in the lower left corner. Gotham FC brought out the cannon with six players firing a total of nine shots.

Williams sent one into the back of the net unassisted on a right-footed shot from close range into the bottom left corner off Jane Campbell’s rebound for the 1-0 lead in the eighth minute. Williams tied Esther González, who had a game-high four shots, for the team lead with two league goals.

The Dash conceded the first goal for the fifth time this season. But Campbell pulled off a huge feat in the 38th minute, saving Williams’ header from the right side of the penalty area into the bottom left corner to keep the score at 1-0.

The Dash were held to zero shots in the second half until Sophie Schmidt fired a right-footed shot from the right side of the box that was saved by Berger in the bottom right corner in the 83rd minute.

Schmidt was replaced by Jyllissa Harris two minutes later due to injury. Bárbara Olivieri almost equalized in second-half injury time, but her right-footed shot from outside the area flew high from a direct free kick.

Gotham FC outscored the Dash 19-3 with a 5-2 advantage on penalties while holding 52% possession. Campbell finished with four saves, following a career-high performance of a dozen saves against KC, and leads the league with 44. Berger made two for Gotham FC while collecting his second straight clean sheet.

The Dash completed the first of back-to-back doubleheader weeks. They visit Angel City FC in the NWSL on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.