Dash allow five first-half goals in loss to OL Reign

A first-half performance unlike any they had ever experienced sent the Dash to a rare lopsided defeat on Saturday night.

OL Reign came out hard and fast and barely let Houston breathe en route to a 5-1 victory at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Wash. All six goals were scored in the first half.

It’s not the Dash (5-6-2, 17 points) give up five goals in one half.

“We were all just (ticked) off (at halftime),” captain and center back Katie Naughton said. “We got hit in the mouth, like, what the (heck) just happened?”

The result was drastically different from when Houston defeated OL Reign (6-6-1, 19 points) 2-0 at BBVA Stadium on July 2

Bethany Balcer scored the first of her two goals in the sixth minute.

In the 30th minute, Dash midfielder Shea Groom’s shot was deflected into the goal by Alnna Cook.