Houston Dash upend Portland Thorns 1-0 in Challenge Cup semifinal, earn berth in NWSL title game

Sandy • It had been 360 minutes since a goal was scored in the National Women’s Soccer League Challenge Cup. Three consecutive scoreless games went to penalties, and 69 minutes of play between the Houston Dash and Portland Thorns in the first semifinal game at Rio Tinto Stadium.

But Dash striker Rachel Daly flipped all that on its head, with her head, giving Houston a 1-0 win over the Thorns that punched its ticket to the tournament final.

The Dash play the winner of Wednesday’s evening game between the Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC.

Daly’s goal came after a scramble off a corner kick in the 69th minute. The pass was headed into the crossbar by a Dash player, and Daly drove head first into the ball, which bounced off Thorns goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom’s back and into the goal.

“I think that the way it bounced, I think it was just perfectly set up for me to get a bit of a powerful header behind it and it just had to get on frame,” Daly said. “I knew it was going to go in.”

Daly’s goal put her atop the league in goals with three. Houston coach James Clarkson praised his forward leadership by example.

“The attitude and the commitment she brings every single day is just fantastic,” Clarkson said.

Daly has been with Houston for five seasons, which is just one season less than the franchise has existed. Before the Challenge Cup, the Dash had not made the playoffs in any season.

Daly said qualifying for the tournament final was a big win on various fronts — soccer and beyond.

“It’s massive for us as players, but I think more so for the organization and the city of Houston itself,” Daly said. “I think everyone’s struggling all over the world right now with the pandemic. It’s a really tough time to be a part of. And for the city of Houston, for me, I think this was for them.”

One of the bright spots of the game was Houston attacking midfielder Nichelle Prince. While she didn’t get on the stat sheet, she created several opportunities for the Dash going forward and whipping balls into dangerous areas from the right wing.

Clarkson said Prince has a lot of upside and sees her becoming more well-known throughout the NWSL.

“I don’t think enough people in the league really know who she is and what she’s really capable of,” Clarkson said. “I think she’s on the verge of really taking the game to whole other level and becoming a major star in the league.”

The Dash finished with 12 shots, four of which were on frame. The Thorns had 10 shots (three on goal) themselves, but never really seemed to get much momentum going forward. They lost despite having 62% of the possession and completing nearly 70% of their passes.

The Dash completed only 51.2% of their passes, but secured the win anyway.

“Houston were the better team today,” Thorns coach Mark Parsons said. “I think they had a good performance. Unfortunately we chose a bad day to have a very, very below average performance. … It was probably, since all our training games, probably the lowest level we’ve played.”