Goal will be finishing chances in Louisville
The Dash are shifting gears from NWSL play to the UKG Challenge Cup amid a three-game stretch in seven days.
Houston (4-3-4) will meet Racing Louisville FC (2-3-6) for the second time this year at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lynn Family Stadium after the teams tied 0-0 to open league play. Midfielder Sophie Schmidt, however, recognizes that both sides have been through a lot since then.
“The team that we played at the beginning, that Louisville (team) I don’t think exists anymore,” Schmidt said. “They’ve definitely changed and grown, but the great thing is that so have we. So, even though it is the second game, it kind of also feels like the first.”
Both teams are unbeaten in the last three games in all competitions. Houston failed to record its third straight regular-season clean sheet after tying 1-1 vs. Gotham FC and former Dash coach Juan Carlos Amorós on Sunday. Louisville is coming off back-to-back draws after beating Chicago, 2-0, in its previous Cup match.
Savannah DeMelo, who leads Louisville with six goals overall, is one of the top attacking players in the league right now, Dash head coach Sam Laity said.
“We’ll be back trying to prevent her from facing up and being dangerous,” Laity said. “They’ve got some clear patterns of play that I don’t think we did a good enough job in the last game against them.”
Although María Sánchez scored vs. Gotham FC to become one of four NWSL players with three goals and three assists in all competitions this year, the Dash came close to picking up their fifth league triumph.
Michelle Alozie, who had a goal called off after a video review, Sánchez, and Schmidt all had opportunities to score the game-winner in the second half, including Schmidt’s strike that bounced off the crossbar in stoppage time.
On the bright side, Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell and Co. have conceded just one goal since falling to San Diego, 3-0, on May 20, outscoring opponents 5-1 during the unbeaten streak.
“We created so many chances, but we did ourselves no favor by not putting the ball in the back of the net,” Schmidt said.
Heading into group play, Schmidt, who was named Player of the Match vs. Gotham FC after playing 90 minutes, said the midweek game poses its own challenges with traveling and tired legs.
“I think there’ll definitely be a bit of squad rotation just for health. … Getting players the opportunities to play and showcase themselves,” Schmidt said. “We’re excited, but as this league goes, it’s going to be a tough game.”