High hopes give way to disappointing end
A season that began with hopes as high as they’ve ever been for the Dash ended with three bitter defeats that will take a long time to forget.
The Dash won the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2020 — the league’s only trophy competition during the pandemicshortened season — and returned all key players for the 2021 season.
Led by third-year coach James Clarkson, Houston set its sights on qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. From U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Jane Campbell to England national team forward Rachel Daly, the Dash seemed to be solid on every line.
An 0-2-1 start served as a reality check, and even though the Dash followed with three wins out of their next four games, they never gathered enough momentum to get themselves into a comfortable position in the race for the playoffs, which included six of the league’s 10 teams.
They dropped points from winning positions throughout the season, and that always had them feeling like they were scratching and clawing just to stay afloat.
It didn’t help the National Women’s Soccer League decided to play through the Olympics. As a result, the Dash were without six starters for 20 percent of the season. Three of those starters — defender Allysha Chapman, forward Nichelle Prince and midfielder Sophie Schmidt — won gold medals with the Canadian Olympic team.
All six Olympians returned from Tokyo and started for the Dash in a road game at Racing Louisville on Aug. 29. The Dash won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal by Daly but got only two points out of their next three games.
They responded with a three-game winning streak that vaulted them into third place on the table, but that winning streak came at perhaps the lowest point in league history.
In late September, The Athletic published an explosive report in which two former Portland Thorns players accused their former coach Paul Riley of sexual coercion in addition to other forms of abuse. The report included accusations of a cover-up by the Thorns and by the league after being approached with the information.
The fallout included the termination of Riley from his position as head coach of the North Carolina Courage and the resignation of NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird.
Multiple male coaches throughout the rest of the league also were fired for alleged abuse in unrelated incidents. By the time all was said and done, Clarkson was the only male coach in the league not to have allegations thrown his way.
With a dark cloud hovering over the league for the final month of the regular season, the Dash needed only one point from their last three games to clinch the first playoff berth in team history.
They never got it. After scoring 11 goals in three consecutive wins, they didn’t score any goals in three consecutive losses to end the season. The final setback came in the last game of the regular season. They knew all they needed was to draw against the Washington Spirit on the road, but they lost 1-0.