**PORTLAND, Ore.** – Portland Thorns FC and the Houston Dash settled for a point apiece after a 1-1 draw at Providence Park. The hosts were on the board early through Crystal Dunn, but a first half equalizer from Houston’s María Sánchez helped the visiting Dash earn their keep as Houston is off to their best start in club history while Portland remains unbeaten through three games.
Seven minutes in, Portland had their first look on goal as attacker Morgan Weaver broke through the opposition defense down the left side. Edging her way into the penalty area, Weaver opted to go alone and fired a low drive toward the near post that ricocheted off the post and out of play.
However, just two minutes later, the Thorns found their breakthrough as forward Sophia Smith connected with teammate Crystal Dunn after again finding success down that left side. Receiving a through pass and breaking toward the endline, Smith squeezed around a Houston defender before lifting her head and seeing Dunn in position just below the penalty spot. Cutting back her pass, Smith rolled her ball in to Dunn just a few yards away, and Dunn roofed her effort past Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell to put her side in front.
Houston did well to not allow the goal to kill their momentum forward though, and forward Ebony Salmon had a good look on goal in the 23 ^rd minute as she put Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby to the test. Latching onto a pass as she broke through the Thorns defense, Salmon had a tight angle to work with and attempted to curl her right-footed shot around Bixby only for the goalkeeper to parry it away.
Despite that, the Dash needed just an extra minute to find their equalizer as Sánchez broke through the Thorns defense and finished tidily at the far post for her side’s goal. Receiving a pass down the left side that the Portland defense could not cut out, Sánchez was able to drive forward through the midfield area and into the penalty area. From there, she cut onto her left foot and pushed a low effort to the far side of the goal that Bixby was unable to dive for as the ball rolled into the side netting to help Houston claw their way back.
With the game opening back up, Portland then came close again in the 32 ^nd minute as Smith, who leads the NWSL Golden Boot race through three games, ripped a left-footed shot from the left side. Striking with venom, Smith reacted in agony as the ball rifled off the post and back into play, though Portland was unable to make something happen from there. Two minutes later, Smith was back at it down the left side as she forced another save from Campbell only for the ball to fall to Dunn’s feet just outside the box. From there, Dunn’s effort sailed just over the bar.
Into the second half, Portland again looked the more likely of the two sides to score as Smith had an opportunity created for her in the 53 ^rd minute. Closing a Houston defender down, Smith regained possession on the edge of the penalty area just right of center of the 18-yard box. Turning toward goal, she then cut a right-footed effort toward the far post that landed just wide.
One of Houston’s best looks in the second half came right after the hour mark when the forward Salmon was racing onto a ball in the box. As she met it, Salmon had the task of either trying to lift over or go around the onrushing Bixby, and as she tried to get her effort on goal Bixby was there to end the move. In the 81 ^st minute, Houston came close again as forward Diana Ordóñez had a header blocked from a cross on the left side resulting in the ball spiraling into the air. Rising to meet it was teammate Allysha Chapman, and as she headed her shot past Bixby to her left, she was unfortunate to watch it fall just wide of the near post and out for a corner kick that the Dash could not capitalize on.
One last push from the hosts came via a corner kick in the 89 ^th minute. On set piece duty was Portland’s Meghan Klingenberg, and she was able to land her ball in on the head of teammate Becky Sauerbrunn just left of center of the near post. Sauerbrunn’s header then flashed across goal toward the back post where Weaver attempted a right-footed shot, though her effort was inches away.
In the end, both sides made a push though neither could find a breakthrough goal and the pair shared the points in the lone match of Friday’s action.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights