**Seattle, Washington** – It was a night of firsts for the visiting Houston Dash as they not only beat OL Reign for the first time in Seattle, but in doing so, have now strung together three straight wins for the first time since last Fall and only the third time in club history. That, all while Head Coach Juan Carlos Amoros becomes the first coach in NWSL history to win his first three games in charge as the Dash eked a 2-1 win against the Reign thanks to an Ebony Salmon bounce in three minutes.
The action got going early on with the hosts OL Reign actually scoring first thanks to attacker Megan Rapinoe’s classy strike in the 16 ^th minute. Teammate Kim Little was charging ahead through midfield when she aimed a ball in the direction of forward Jordyn Huitema in the box. However, going over Huitema’s head, the ball instead landed at the feet of Rapinoe who did ever so well to strike the bouncing ball with enough curl to slide past Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell and into the back of the net.
Then, as OL Reign continued to put pressure on the Houston goal, three saves in three minutes from Campbell—including a brilliant double save in the 31 ^st minute—were the only thing preventing the Dash from going down a second goal. First, it was Reign defender Sofia Huerta who hit a ball sweetly with her left foot that Campbell was able to redirect onto the post and back into play. Seconds later, Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock then had a stab at goal as she attempted to slot the rebound home at the near post only for Campbell to find a way to keep the ball out. Three minutes later, Campbell then stopped another shot from Rapinoe on the left side of the box.
At the break, the hosts held onto their one-goal advantage with Rapinoe’s opener enough to separate the two sides.
Into the second half, though, Houston struck twice in quick succession as forward Ebony Salmon scored first in the 53 ^rd minute and then again in the 55 ^th minute to stun the Reign and help her side into the lead.
In the 51 ^st minute, Houston won the ball back high up the field and fired toward the Reign goal only for the center official to blow their whistle and award a penalty to the visitors due to a handball on Quinn. Up to take was forward Ebony Salmon, who was able to beat Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce to the goalkeeper’s right with a well-placed spot kick.
Two minutes later, more pressure from the Dash in midfield resulted in midfielder Shea Groom playing a forward ball into the path of Salmon who was breaking toward goal. Though Tullis-Joyce attempted to close down the opportunity, Salmon struck with venom into the top right corner of the goal to convert and produce another multi-goal game as she continues to flourish after the trade.
In the 79 ^th minute, OL Reign had one more solid look on goal as they pressed ahead through Rapinoe. Dancing her way through the Dash midfield, Rapinoe supplied Fishlock with the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and, in turn, Fishlock played in Huerta in the right side of the penalty area. Opting to play a ball across the face of goal, Huerta’s delivery in was instead met by the right foot of Campbell who saw the effort away from danger.
In the end, the Dash earned another big win as they move to third in the league standings, while OL Reign sit sixth after suffering their fourth loss of the season.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights