Morales expecting team to bounce back from loss

With nearly every aspect surrounding their last game going against them, the Dash altered the way they viewed the result.

A loss is never good, but this was one they could live with.

They plan to make up for it in their next game when they face last-place FC Kansas City on Sunday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Several key players had played two nights before and did not meet up with the team until the night before the Dash’s game at Portland last weekend. In addition to that, they had to play at 11 a.m. in front of 18,000 fans.

The Dash (6-8-2) were level for a moment in the first half before conceding a second goal and losing 2-1 to a team already in playoff position.

“It was only 2-1,” forward Rachel Daly said. “If it was a 3-1, 4-1 or 5-1 game, it’s a different story. Everyone’s heads would go down. We would be in a completely different place mentally. We know we weren’t at our best, and we know what we need to do to get better.”

The loss halted their club record six-game unbeaten streak, but interim coach Omar Morales is not worried about the season falling apart. If anything, he said, he expects a convincing bounce-back performance Sunday.

The only other time the Dash lost under Morales’ direction, they rebounded the following week with a resounding victory that began the unbeaten streak.

“We have had two very good days of training,” Morales said. “We’re working hard. The team’s matured from when we started. Now, it is not acceptable to lose. It is not acceptable to draw. They want to win, and that’s something you want out of your team.”

The Dash on Sunday will encounter an opponent that has not won in nine games. FC Kansas City (3-8-5) began the season with three wins in seven games, but its last victory came in late May.

One of the games in that nine-game winless skid was a 2-1 home loss to the Dash in which it scored first.

Morales, however, said this is no time for the Dash to think about that. There are eight games remaining and four points to make up in order to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in club history.

He said Sunday’s opponent will have the Dash’s respect.

“Kansas City is a good, solid team,” Morales said. “They’re going to work as hard as they can to get a result.”