**SAN DIEGO, Calif.** – San Diego Wave FC defeated the Houston Dash, 1-0, behind a Jaedyn Shaw goal in the 57 ^th minute that helped send San Diego to the top of the NWSL table with the result. The dismissal of Houston’s Michelle Alozie, who was shown a straight red card for a challenge in the 33 ^rd minute, also left the visiting Dash down a player for nearly two-thirds of the game. The win for San Diego puts it in 1 ^st place with 30 points from 18 games played, while the Dash are in 10 ^th place with 20 points from 18 games and six points off a playoff position.
After a bit of buildup on both sides of the ball, the Wave first came close in the 26 ^th minute when forward Jaedyn Shaw had a shot from just outside the box that was well blocked by a Houston defender in the end. Shaw had been played forward toward goal by teammate Alex Morgan, and running onto it well, Shaw had the option of hitting it first time or attempting to round the goalkeeper and/or a defender. The forward chose the former, ripping a chance to the left of the goal, but the shot was blocked almost immediately as the chance ended.
One of the big turning points of the match then came in the 33 ^rd minute when Houston forward Michelle Alozie was shown a straight red card for judging to have illegally brought down San Diego’s Rachel Hill after missing the ball after a throw in. The ball into Alozie’s feet slipped underneath her and ended up creating a pathway for San Diego midfielder Rachel Hill to break through clean on goal. Grappling with Hill to attempt to recover possession, Alozie and Hill then went tumbling to the ground with the referee deciding that Alozie had brought Hill down as the last defender and sent her off without hesitation.
One final big chance for San Diego came in the 38 ^th minute when Morgan had one of her first great shots after a long ball over the top. Defender Naomi Girma arched an incredible over the top through pass for Morgan to run onto as the ball dipped into the center of the penalty area. Not even bringing it down, Morgan attempted to volley the ball toward goal with her left foot, and though she made good contact it was still a relatively easy save for Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell in the end.
Morgan would have one more shot blocked in the 40 ^th minute, but still neither side would be able to break the deadlock as it remained scoreless through the halftime break.
The second half saw San Diego and Houston flirt with chances in the opening ten minutes of the restart but nothing more than relatively close looks on goal, that is until forward Jaedyn Shaw opened the scoring in the 57 ^th minute. This time, Shaw received a pass on the right side of the box after defender Christen Westphal slipped her through, and Shaw kept her composure incredibly well as she rounded Campbell and slotted the ball into the back of the net to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Then, just five minutes later, Shaw was denied a second goal from close in as Houston defender Caprice Dydasco made a solid goalline clearance to stop the young forward from increasing her side’s advantage to two. San Diego had worked the ball back up field swiftly where midfielder Kyra Carusa was able to cut a pass back to Shaw from the left side of the box toward the center. Though Shaw’s shot beat Campbell in that it got past her, Dydasco was in the right place at the right time and did well to keep the ball out of the back of the net with a block and clearance.
From there, San Diego would pepper the Houston defense with a few more opportunities, namely for the likes of Makenzy Doniak and Morgan, who were denied late on in different fashions to prevent the hosts from finding a comfortable second goal. However, the Wave would hold on in the end and earn a massive three points to shoot themselves to the top of the table approaching the final few games of the season.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights