**Bridgeview, Illinois** – The Houston Dash narrowly defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 1-0, on Saturday night as Dash forward Ebony Salmon’s first half strike was enough to keep the sides separated the rest of the way through.
The visitors came out hotter in the opening minutes as they applied pressure on goal as early as the ninth minute, though forward Ebony Salmon’s deflected shot fell harmlessly into the hands of Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
However, in the 25 ^th minute, Houston would utilize Salmon again and ultimately go in front as one of the most in-form forwards struck again on the break. A long ball over the top from goalkeeper Jane Campbell ultimately reached fellow forward Nichelle Prince as the Dash went from one end to the other. Sprinting to meet the pass, Prince then poked a through ball into the path of her teammate Salmon as she raced into the penalty area. From there, Salmon then curled a right-footed effort around the netminder Naeher and Houston earned the lead.
In the 34 ^th minute, Chicago nearly found success of their own via a corner kick delivered by forward Mallory Pugh. Houston defender Katie Naughton had put the ball out of play resulting in the set piece, and Pugh’s delivery in fell into a crowd with no one on either side making solid contact with it. Eventually, though, Houston’s Campbell leapt on top of the ball to smother the chance and make sure her side preserved their advantage.
At the break, Salmon’s lone goal was good enough to separate the two sides as Houston kept the Chicago attack at bay and clung to a one-goal lead.
A wild start to the second half saw the Red Stars come out swinging early with forward Ella Stevens being denied by the goalkeeper Campbell just three minutes after the restart. A fantastic ball down the left side for midfielder Rachel Hill saw her take her space and move forward in possession. Lifting her head as she approached parallel with the 18-yard box, Hill then curled a left-footed pass in perfect execution directly to the feet of her teammate Stevens. Though but a few yards out however, Stevens looked on in shock as Campbell somehow covered her side of the goal and the forward fired just wide.
Chances for Houston’s María Sánchez and Nichelle Prince in the 62 ^nd and 70 ^th minutes respectively ended up causing a quake in the Red Stars defense, but the hosts would merely bend and not break as they ended both chances. On the other end, though, Chicago continued to garner momentum but saw a pair of chances for Pugh produce a minor threat on the Houston goal with their pursuit for an equalizer ongoing. The closest Pugh would get would be in the 77 ^th minute when she slipped in behind the defense and was fed through, only for her shot to be saved by Campbell and Pugh to unfortunately be injured in the process.
With Houston continuing to eat time on the clock, Chicago found it difficult to carve out a way back level as an important regular season meetup eventually saw the Dash claim the win over the Red Stars with the visitors losing just one of their last eight (4W 3D). Meanwhile, Chicago’s momentum toward their road to the playoffs was halted with the loss to Houston ending a three-game unbeaten run (2W 1D). With the win, Houston goes atop the table.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights