**HOUSTON, Tx.** – The Houston Dash earned their first home win of the regular season on Friday night, as goals from Joelle Anderson and Ebony Salmon in the second half helped propel the hosts to a 2-1 win over Portland. Having already faced the Thorns once (1-1 D at Portland), Houston’s second attempt against the PNW-based side saw them erase a one goal deficit in what was statistically an extremely close encounter overall. For Portland, the loss is their first of the season in the regular season, ending an impressive six-game run that saw them amass 12 points (W3 D3).
In the 12 ^th minute, attacker Crystal Dunn put the ball in the back of the net after a move down the right side saw Sophia Smith unleashed and eventually into the box, where she tested Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell with a powerful drive that resulted in the ball at Dunn’s feet a few yards out from goal. From there, Dunn smashed the ball home only for the flag to go up for offside from the original move for Smith down the flank.
However, in the 33 ^rd minute, the visiting Thorns would find the breakthrough they were looking for as midfielder Rocky Rodriguez buried her chance in front of goal to go one up in the first half. With Portland probing the penalty area, midfielder Olivia Moultrie settled an initial clearance from a cross in and spotted Rodriguez just inside the penalty area. Moultrie played a pass back in, and Rodriguez then did well to curl her effort around Campbell and in at the far post to finish off the move.
That would do it for the first half action as Portland carried a narrow lead into the interval, leaving the Dash with work to do to earn a result in the second half.
Out on the attack early, Houston had a shout for a handball in the 50 ^th minute as forward Michelle Alozie raced into the penalty area and clipped a cross that was aiming toward the opposite side of the box. That cross ricocheted off a Portland defender, queueing the handball appeal, but that was dismissed by the head official and the match rolled on.
Houston’s pressure was not without reward, though, as the Dash got the Thorns defense to crack just before the hour mark with halftime substitute Joelle Anderson finding the back of the net in the 59 ^th minute. Forward Ebony Salmon had squirmed around a defender in the right side of the box where she unleashed a drive toward Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby that forced the shotstopper to parry the ball away from goal. However, standing where Bixby had pushed the ball was the midfielder Anderson, who calmly slotted the ball home to bring the hosts level once again and leave it all to play for with a third of the game to go.
Two minutes later, Portland was back in the other way as Smith had been slipped in down the left side. However, some aggressive goalkeeping from Campbell saw her come off her line and attempt to match Smith stride-for-stride as the forward approached the endline, which Campbell did well as she eventually produced a save on a tight-angled shot from Smith.
Then, in the 71 ^st minute, Houston attacker Ebony Salmon showed exactly why she can be one of the most prolific forwards in the game when she spun off a defender and left her in the dust, eventually poking home a shot past Bixby to give Houston its first lead of the night. Salmon was around 30 yards out when she received a pass from teammate María Sánchez on the turn and drove toward goal after shedding her defender. Inching her way into the box, there was little Bixby could do as she was caught between a rock and a hard place choosing whether to come off her line and leave the goal vulnerable or hold firm and attempt to stop Salmon from there. Bixby chose the latter, but Salmon was able to convert with a cool right-footed effort into the far side netting to lift her side ahead. The goal was Salmon's first of the season as she became the youngest in club history to score 10 goals.
Just over 10 minutes later, Portland was scrambling to find an equalizer and nearly did so as forward Adriana Leon put the ball into the back of the net after a break the other way. However, like with Dunn’s early finish, the flag went up after the ball rippled the netting and it was waved off due to an offside decision.
After nine minutes of additional time played, the fulltime whistle sounded and Portland’s late push for an equalizing goal would be unsuccessful as the Dash secured a needed first home victory. It's a first win for Houston at home against Portland since July 2016, and the result pushes Houston into 6 ^th place with other matches still to be played around the weekend. The same goes for a Portland side that now sits 2 ^nd but could find themselves as low as 5 ^th place pending other results across the league.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights