Match against Courage a litmus test
After a sluggish start, turnaround brings 7 points over 4 games
By Glynn A. Hill
When coach Vera Pauw and her Dash players review game film from early this season, they laugh.
Much has changed for the team that earned two points in its first five matches of the National Women’s Soccer League season.
For one, those players have grown accustomed to the firstyear coach’s style and structure. And while they recently lost the player who had been their best performer through the first three months of the season, captain Kealia Ohai has begun to find her form since missing the 2017 season, plus several games this year, with a knee injury.
Heading into Sunday’s contest, when they host the firstplace North Carolina Courage (9-0-2), the Dash (3-4-4) have picked up seven points in their last four games and rank in the top two in the league in assists.
“We’re very happy, of course, with the points, but we also realize we have to grow further if we want to have a chance,” Pauw said. “We don’t get carried away with two wins, we know exactly where we stand and that we’re better than a month ago.”
Lifting the pressure
The Seattle Reign FC win came in the closing seconds of extra time, when rookie Veronica Latsko netted the game-winner just days after graduating from the University of Virginia. Against the Washington Spirit, a reinvigorated attack came alive, showcasing talents like Thembi Kgatlana and Rachel Daly along the way to 3-2 win in their highest-scoring game of the season — they also scored three against Sky Blue in early May.
Although Daly was recently named to the English national team at fullback, Pauw moved her back up front from the back line as part of a larger effort to create more offensive opportunities. And despite losing Kristie Mewis to a season-ending knee injury against Washington, Daly, Ohai and others have developed enough to give Pauw confidence in their direction as a unit.
“When I first started playing in games again, it was definitely about getting my confidence back and starting to feel what it feels like to be in a game again,” Ohai said.
“I think scoring the goal last week really helped me, it’s a huge difference,” she said, referring to her first goal of 2018 vs. the Spirit. “When you score, a weight is lifted off of you. You start to feel more like yourself. And the wins start to help, I think. When you’re losing, it’s so much pressure on everyone.”
More challenges ahead
Continuing those winning ways will be a challenge Sunday when the top team in the league comes to BBVA Compass Stadium.
“North Carolina is the best team, that’s clear,” Pauw said. “They miss a lot of players, but the others are stepping up. We do not get too carried away that a few good players are not there, because there’s very good players behind them stepping up. We know it will be a very hard game.”
Pauw echoes the philosophy she preaches to her players: take one day at a time.
“Everything is more connected, everybody knows their tasks better and their knowledge has grown and their execution of tasks has gotten better and better,” she said.
Ohai embodies that optimism, even if the team has to move forward without one of their best.
“Moving forward without Kristie is going to be difficult. She was one of our best players and really held that midfield position. And she’s a leader, so when you lose that it’s a big loss,” Ohai said. “That’s what’s so difficult about this league is that it is so up and down, you are going to lose some games, and I think we need to understand that moving forward.”