**Cary, North Carolina** – A seven-goal thriller at WakeMed Soccer Park saw the Houston Dash defeat the hosts North Carolina Courage, 4-3, with the Courage nearly completing a comeback and earning a point in the showdown.
The first of the game’s goals came after just six minutes when the Courage opened the scoring through a goal of the season contending streak from Denise O’Sullivan. Receiving the ball outside the top of the box and looking to continue the move, O’Sullivan scanned her options before opting to have a go at a bouncing ball which resulted in a dipping effort that sailed over Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell and in.
Nine minutes later though, the Dash pulled level through attacker María Sanchez, who alongside her teammates helped to pick up the weight of captain Rachel Daly’s absence on international duty. Intercepting a pass in the Courage half, teammate Shea Groom then drove at goal and slipped in a pass for Sanchez to latch onto in the box. Sanchez then pushed a left-footed effort to the left side of goal past Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy and in.
The rest of the first half contained its fair share of opportunities for both sides, but neither were ultimately able to break the deadlock and the pair shared the spoils after 45 minutes of action.
However, Houston jumped ahead just two minutes into the second half through Elizabeth Eddy. A free kick on the left flank resulted in a tricky ball being floated into a packed penalty area, leaving the Courage goalkeeper Murphy undetermined on whether or not to come out. Ultimately deciding against that, the ball then bounced around the box amongst failed clearances and came to the foot of Eddy, who powered the ball in on goal from close range.
Then, in the 50 ^th minute, Eddy added her second through an unbelievable chip over Murphy and in. Sánchez had spotted her teammates run on the left side and played Eddy into space, and she fooled both the defense and goalkeeper with a chipped effort that left Murphy scrambling but unable to prevent the goal as the lead was doubled.
The visitors continued to ride momentum and, not a minute later, found themselves three goals up as forward Nichelle Prince scored her fifth goal of the season, again with the forward Sánchez registering the assist. An electric counterattack resulted in Sánchez playing Prince down the line, and the forward wriggled in and out around defenders before opening up her body and curling her shot past Murphy for her team’s fourth goal of the night.
Down but not out, North Carolina pulled a goal back in the 57 ^th minute to provide a lifeline with plenty of time to play. Defender Carson Pickett was in possession some ways away from the 18-yard box and played a beautifully driven ball toward goal where forward Diana Ordoñez awaiting. Displaying a bit of magic from there, though, Ordoñez took an incredible first touch to settle the ball before slotting it between Campbell’s legs to bring the match one goal closer.
In similar fashion as the Dash had just a minutes earlier as well, the Courage scored another goal just two minutes later to put a true fear of a comeback into Houston’s mind. This time, it was midfielder Debinha on the scoresheet as she did ever so well to dance around the Houston defense before clipping a shot that, despite not being filled with a great amount of power, was able to sneak past Campbell to bring the game within one goal.
However, even with a full half-hour to play, North Carolina was unable to sufficiently threaten the Houston goal and the Dash escaped with three points in another high-octane, attacking showdown. The win helps Houston bounce back from a 4-0 thrashing against Portland last Sunday, while North Carolina’s two-game win streak was snapped with the result.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights