**Houston, Texas** – The Houston Dash defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 4-1, thanks to a big hat-trick from forward Ebony Salmon and a late tally by Joelle Anderson to answer the Red Stars strike near stoppage time from Samantha Fisher on Saturday night.
The hosts were off to a fast start after holding off a couple of early attacks by the visiting Red Stars and would end up opening the scoring in the 11 ^th minute through forward Ebony Salmon. Recently acquired via a trade with Racing Louisville, Salmon has received regular playing time since her arrival and paid that trust back with a goal from close in following a sloppy giveaway from Chicago in defense. The goal was Salmon’s first in Dash colors and helped her side to go in front.
Chicago and Houston would continue to trade chances as the first half wore on, but one of the best looks for the Red Stars came in the 35 ^th minute through forward Ella Stevens. Sent through toward goal, Stevens was able to break slightly ahead of the defense and poke an effort toward goal that Houston netminder Lindsey Harris did well to get big and deny leaving no possibility of a follow up effort.
Then, in the 42 ^nd minute, Chicago again tested Harris in goal as they sought to find an equalizer before the halftime interval. Lining up from distance was midfielder Arin Wright, whose dipping effort was held well by Harris. However, in the move immediately after, Houston then nearly doubled their own advantage through Salmon as the goalscorer was denied by a point-blank save by Chicago goalkeeper Emily Boyd to preserve the one goal deficit.
However, right at the halftime interval Houston saw fit to strike once with who else but the forward Salmon helping the hosts to double their lead. Played in on goal in a very similar circumstance to previous moves, Salmon was able to latch onto the pass and squeeze a close-range effort just past Boyd for both hers and the game’s second goal.
With the halftime whistle blowing just seconds later, Houston carried a two-goal lead into the interval.
Into the second half, again both sides created relatively open looks within the first few minutes. First, it was the visitors who put pressure on Harris’s goal but were unable to truly test the goalkeeper with chances in the first five minutes of play. Then, Houston forced Boyd into a save off an effort from Ryan Gareis, though the relatively tame effort required less than the maximum from the netminder.
However, the Dash would not be held off for much longer as the forward Salmon ended up bagging her hat-trick with a well-taken goal in the 55 ^th minute to help increase the lead to three. With the winger Gareis streaking up the left side of the field, she was able to spot the run and ultimately play in Salmon as she approached the penalty area. Taking a heavy touch, Salmon did well to not let the move fall apart as she produced a composed finish from close in to send Houston three-up.
Chicago would not relent in its pursuit for a goal though, and this time it was forward Sarah Luebbert who came close for her side in the 72 ^nd minute. Flying down the left side of the field, the ball came out to Luebbert who cut back inside toward goal and curled a right-footed shot toward Harris. In good position to make a save, though, Harris pushed the shot away for a corner that resulted in nothing.
The Red Stars would eventually get their goal, though, as an 88 ^th minute tally from substitute Samantha Fisher helped cushion the loss and ruin Houston’s clean sheet late on. A ball in from a wide position was headed down near a skirmish of bodies inside the penalty area. Closest to it was Fisher, who managed to barely lift an effort past Harris for the goal.
Somehow not finished, Houston would actually end up tallying a fourth goal and the first from someone not named Ebony Salmon in the third of three minutes of stoppage time. Rushing down the field from end-to-end, Cali Jean Farquharson spotted the run of teammate Joelle Anderson, whose shot on goal was half-saved by Boyd though eventually spilled its way in to restore the three-goal lead.
In the end, though, Houston’s kept the spoils thanks to Ebony Salmon’s impressive hat-trick with one of the lone negatives of the match the club’s inability to see out the clean sheet. The win helped Houston bounce back from consecutive defeats, while Chicago saw its nine-game unbeaten run end at PNC Stadium.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights