Houston Dash forward Rachel Daly scored twice as the Dash kept close to the playoff race with a 2-1 win on the road over Sky Blue FC on Saturday night. The Dash improved to 26 points (7-8-5) with four games remaining, still four points behind the fourth place Orlando Pride at the conclusion of Week […]

Houston Dash forward Rachel Daly scored twice as the Dash kept close to the playoff race with a 2-1 win on the road over Sky Blue FC on Saturday night.The Dash improved to 26 points (7-8-5) with four games remaining, still four points behind the fourth place Orlando Pride at the conclusion of Week 20’s games. The loss drops Sky Blue FC to 0-14-4, and the team is still in search of their first win of the season. Daly scored her first goal in just the 7th minute. Dash forward Kealia Ohai turned on the jets down the left sideline and dribbled into the box around Sky Blue defender Christina Gibbons. Ohai’s cross found Daly for a one-time finish into the roof of the net. [Empty Body] Sky Blue FC tied the match in the 64th minute with a goal from Madison Tiernan. Savannah McCaskill‘s shot was saved in the box by Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, but the rebound went to Tiernan to make it 1-1. [Empty Body] The Dash took the lead in the 73rd minute on a penalty kick from Daly. Houston was awarded the penalty when Raquel Rodriguez was called for a handball in the box on a cross that was taken by Daly. The penalty is the first of Daly’s career and her ninth goal of the season. [Empty Body] Sky Blue FC goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan made nine saves in the match to keep the game close for Sky Blue. In the 31st minute, she stopped a free kick that was chipped over the wall from Amber Brooks. Then in the 43rd minute, she stopped a deflected shot from distance by Sofia Huerta. In the 53rd minute, she stopped Veronica Latsko point-blank, before stopping Thembi Kgatlana in the 82nd minute. [Empty Body] Campbell made five saves her own in the win, including a 29th minute stop on Imani Dorsey. [Empty Body] Daly appeared to have had another goal in the match in the 28th minute, but the ball was ruled to have not fully crossed the goal line before Sheridan got a hand on it. [Empty Body] Gibbons was forced to leave the match in the 36th minute after appearing to injure her leg on a strong defensive play in the box. She was replaced by Rebekah Stott, her first minutes since June 2nd after missing time due to injury. The Dash took more shots (21-16), shots on goal (11-6) and corner kicks (8-4) than Sky Blue FC. They also held the better of possession, 56.7% to 43.3%. Sky Blue played the match without Carli Lloyd, who was suspended after being issued a red card for a handball in the box in the 96th minute last week. The Dash will next face the Spirit on Friday night. Sky Blue will host Utah Royals FC on Saturday. This story will be updated.