Laity era opens vs. Louisville FC
The last time the Houston Dash took the field in a meaningful match, a soldout crowd at Shell Energy Stadium was on hand to watch the team’s first playoff game.
On Sunday night, the Dash kick off their 2023 NWSL regular season in what they anticipate will end in another postseason appearance, this time under first-year coach Sam Laity.
“We’re trying to build off last year, we had a very successful season,” forward Maria Sanchez said.
A year ago, Houston went 10-6-6, finishing fourth in the National Women’s Soccer League before bowing out of the playoffs in a 2-1 home quarterfinals loss to Kansas City.
When Houston plays host to Racing Louisville FC at home for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, one of the new players for the Dash is midfielder Barbara Olivieri, a Katy Tompkins product, and the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2020 playing for Texas A&M.
As a fan, Olivieri attended the Dash’s first exhibition match in 2014, the year the club joined the NWSL as an expansion team.
“I’m so excited for Sunday,” Olivieri said. “It’s cool to be a part of it. It’s my hometown. We look like we’re prepared, we’ve been working a long preseason, a hard one.
“We have a really good atmosphere. We have a lot of new faces and also, just getting to know the new coach and new style. We’re going in feeling good and feeling strong.”
Sunday is the first of 22 regular-season NWSL games for Houston.
The most notable of the newcomers is Laity, a longtime assistant in the league. He was brought aboard to provide stability to a side, that despite having three different head coaches in 2022, persevered to accumulate 36 points and qualify for the playoffs.
“I saw Houston was clearly changing its image and changing its branding and it was a club that showed it has ambition,” Laity said. “So, that aligned with my personal ambitions, to be successful and be a head coach in this league.”
Players and coaches alike said it’s been a promising preseason for the Dash, who bring back stalwarts in goalkeeper Jane Campbell, midfielder Sophie Schmidt, forward Ebony Salmon and defender Allysha Chapman. The new players feature forward Diana Ordonez and former Orlando left back Courtney Peterson.
“It doesn’t make a difference actually how well preseason’s going until you get that first game out of the way,” Laity said. “You really don’t know where you’re at. Really looking forward to getting a benchmark this weekend against a strong, good team to see where we are in our planning and preparation.”
Racing Louisville is looking to improve after finishing in ninth place for the second consecutive season.
Louisville added NWSL veteran and former league Defender of the Year Abby Erceg over the offseason in retooling its backline.
Louisville conceded the third most goals in 2022 with 35 and finished with a negative 12 goal differential. Carson Pickett was also added to the roster, which features goalkeeper Katie Lund, one of the club’s more consistent players a year ago.
“They’re a dynamic team,” said Campbell, one of three players to reach 100 regular season games with the Dash. “They have some solid pieces in the middle of their field. They’ve made some trades and they’ve got two solid defenders (Erceg and Pickett) on their backline who are some of the best in the league.
“Our front core will be put to work, and the backline, we just have to make sure we stay organized. They’re really dynamic in the box and can just want balls in, and we have to be ready for it.”
Ally Prisock and Katie Lind are expected to play key roles in the backline for the Dash.