**Portland, Oregon** – The Houston Dash managed an impressive 2-0 victory over the Portland Thorns on Saturday night after a first half tally from forward Rachel Daly was coupled by a second-half finish from Sophie Schmidt.
Breaking ahead through the midfield area, Portland had a good opportunity on the Dash goal after just 11 minutes through Yazmeen Ryan. As midfield Rocky Rodriguez stormed into the Dash final third, she was able to pick out Ryan with a slide pass that eventually led to her teammate firing a low effort on goal that Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell did well to deal with and kill the chance.
Four minutes later, Houston again shut down the Portland attack though through a more last-ditch effort than Campbell’s save before. As a ball came looping back in over the heads of the Dash defense, Portland forward Morgan Weaver was able to get a shot away that would have surely beat Campbell if not for the heroics of defender Katie Naughton, who cleared the ball off the line to preserve the scoreline.
On the other end, Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby made a pair of impressive saves in the opening half-hour but did succumb to a Dash attack in stoppage time of the first half that led the visitors to an advantage before the break. Forward Rachel Daly was played in on the left side of the penalty area and, cutting inside, she managed to squeeze past not one but two Thorns defenders and fire a low shot to the near post that left Bixby little chance.
The goal saw Houston go one-up late on and left Portland only the halftime interval to recoup.
Into the second half, Portland waited until close to the hour mark to truly threaten the Dash goal, but it was again Yazmeen Ryan involved in a potent attack. In the 58 ^th minute, forward Christine Sinclair held possession in the penalty area and managed to sneak around a pair of defenders before reaching the endline. Lifting a cross to the back post, Sinclair was able to pick out the head of Ryan, but the midfielder’s header smacked the crossbar and was eventually cleared as Houston preserved its clean sheet.
Then, in the 66 ^th minute, Houston managed to double its lead as Dash forward Sophie Schmidt plays a quick one-two and breaks into the box. Just a couple of yards away from goal, Schmidt roofed her effort past Bixby and into the back of the net and in a matter of moments the visitors had increased their advantage.
In the 73 ^rd minute, Portland began to attack in numbers as midfielder Janine Beckie played a ball across goal seeking the runs of forwards Christine Sinclair and Sophia Smith, but the ball rolled through the defense and over the line to relieve some pressure for the Dash.
Portland tested the Dash goalkeeper Campbell a couple more times throughout the duration of the second half, but ultimately their efforts were not enough as Houston not only earned the two-goal victory but managed a clean sheet in the process. The result sees Portland’s streak of scoring in 13 straight league matches against the Dash broken, as well as the club’s unbeaten run of seven consecutive league games.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights