Houston Dash at Washington Spirit Preview: Dash hope to recover from loss with Spirited win

The Houston Dash are on the road again this week as they leave the Pacific Northwest and head to the East Coast to take on the Washington Spirit.

The Dash are looking to recover after a brutal 5-1 loss to the Seattle Reign last weekend. Head coach Randy Waldrum made the decision to sit Lydia Williams in favor of Jane Campbell as the starter in goal. However, the Dash’s issues were far deeper than a single positional change. Campbell faced 19 shots from the Reign as the defense failed to provide much help shutting down the Reign’s offense. The defense didn’t get much help from the midfield as Amber Brooks and Denise O’Sullivan both had poor games. Waldrum made some changes to the backline last week playing new addition Camille Levin at left back. Janine Van Wyk missed the game due to injury which moved Cari Roccaro into the centerback position. The loss was a let down after a great opening day showing as the Dash got a win over the Chicago Red Stars.

While the Dash are 1-1-0 on the season thus far the Spirit are 0-1-1 two games into the season. The Spirit are coming off a hard fought 1-1 draw against the Orlando Pride. Line Sigvardsen Jensen scored the only goal for the Spirit in a game where the Spirit weren’t the better team. The Spirit have already had a number of injuries in this young season. Kelsey Wys, Caprice Dydasco, Cali Farquharson, Joanna Lohman, and Cheyna Williams were all out for their game against Orlando and Katie Stengel left the game on a stretcher. Unsurprisingly, Stephiane Labbe has been big for Washington in front of goal this season. Looking to bolster the attach the Spirit signed forward Crystal Thomas on Thursday to prepare for the upcoming game against the Dash.

Things kick off on Saturday at 6 pm CT.