If Michelle Alozie sets her mind to something, she’s probably going to do it.

Take her game-winning goal against Gotham on August 17, for one. It was a tie game going into stoppage time. The Dash hadn’t won in more than three months. Alozie was still looking for her first NWSL goal of the year.

When teammate Sarah Puntigam set her up with a pass through the Gotham defense, Alozie saw her opening.

“I just knew I had to bury it,” she said. “It was going to go through by all force necessary.”

Bury it she did.

That win was a great example of what Alozie calls “Houston grit.” The team did what was needed to get the win – the second time in as many weeks.

It’s been an uneven season for the Dash, but a second half surge is keeping their playoff hopes alive. It’s nothing Alozie and her Houston teammates weren’t prepared for.

The Dash hired Head Coach Fabrice Gautrat in February. Alozie said the changeup was needed, but the team understood that patience would be key as they changed their approach.

“We knew that it was going to take time for them to fully see the fruits of what they're trying to implement here at Houston, and we knew all good things take time,” she said. “To see based on how we play soccer and how playing style has been established, even though we weren't getting the wins, was nice. But also, obviously we want to win at the end of the day.”

Going into Week 18, the Dash are now unbeaten in four straight games, the club’s longest streak since 2023.

“It just shows how much of an effort and work rate that this one entire group has been putting in,” Alozie said.

Though the goal against Gotham was Alozie’s first NWSL goal of the season, it wasn’t her first of 2025. Nigeria defeated South Africa in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinals in July, 2-1, thanks to Alozie’s stoppage-time game winning goal.

It was a long range shot that Alozie wasn’t even sure would count on her stat sheet until well after the game ended.

“When I sent in the long ball, it was supposed to hit someone. I didn't know who. I was just so happy that I saw the net ripple,” she said. “I was just like, ‘I don't care who that went off of.’ Now we're in the final and we're playing the game that we wanted to play this whole entire tournament. All eyes were on this game.”

That energy carried into the final against host nation Morocco. t. The Super Falcons won their 10th WAFCON title in epic fashion. After falling behind 2-0, Nigeria came charging back to win 3-2.

“That's the best thing that's ever happened to me,” Alozie said, beaming. “What? Are you kidding me?”

As more and more African players come to the NWSL and make waves, Alozie said she can feel things shifting. Players like Temwa Chawinga, Barbra Banda, and Asisat Oshoala have been game changers for their respective clubs and next season, a player who scored in WAFCON as well, Aïssata Traoré, will be joining Boston Legacy FC.

It’s a welcome change, but winning with her Nigerian teammates meant a great deal to her, knowing the next generation of soccer stars would be watching.

“It's so insane, especially with that group, girls who I am just so honored to play alongside and call my sisters,” Alzoie said. “We play for so much more than just us. We play for all young footballers in Nigeria that have this passion and want to grow the game in Nigeria.”

The tournament took up much of the summer break, but Alozie is no stranger to pulling double duty. In addition to her full time professional soccer career, Alozie moonlights as a cancer research technician at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Graduating from Yale with a Bachelor’s in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and then from the University of Tennessee with a Masters in Sports Psychology, Alozie wasn’t ready to put her lab coat down just because she was playing soccer professionally.

“I didn't want to completely eradicate that from my life, especially when walking into the football world,” she said.

At Texas Children’s Hospital, Alozie works alongside Dr. Alexandra Stevens researching pediatric cancer. It’s not your typical second job, but Alozie didn’t want to choose between two passions.

“I was fighting for this dream of mine to be a professional footballer and still wanting to be in the science field,” she said. “Dr. Stevens made the opportunity so open and welcoming for me.”

Though Alozie isn’t sure what she wants her concentration to be when she enters the medical space full time after her soccer days are done, she said juggling both right now is setting her up for success when time comes.

“I just knew that I wanted to set myself up for whenever I'm done with football. Just knowing that I have a foot in the medical world and I'm keeping my brain sharp,” Alozie said. “I'm still in the science realm. I'm remembering things that I was doing in college just so that whenever I'm done and I decide to retire, I have another pathway.”

That day is still a ways away, so Alozie will continue walking two paths at once. The road the Dash are on is a full fledged push to make it above the playoff line.

Houston heads to Louisville in Week 18 to face a Racing team that is undefeated in their last three games. Sitting in 11th place, the Dash are just two points behind eighth place Gotham, right above the playoff line.

There’s no such thing as a sure thing in the NWSL, and Alozie and her teammates will be relying on that Houston grit to get the job done.

“We know how this league is. It is always tight,” Alozie said. “Anyone can beat anyone on any given day, especially right now is when it really matters.”

You can watch Alozie and the rest of the Dash take on Racing Louisville on Friday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NWSL+.