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The Houston Dash are headed to Swope Soccer Village in Missouri where they will take on reigning NWSL Champions FC Kansas City this Saturday. After a tough draw at home against Sky Blue FC last Friday, the Dash hope their preparation this week is enough to add another win to their record.
Building momentum
The Dash had a physical game against Sky Blue FC last week where they had twenty shots, seven of which were on goal, seven corner kicks, and two saves against Sky Blue’s six shots, only two were on goal, and Caroline Stanley’s five saves. The team played hard and clearly wanted anything to seal a win for the club. One shot even went in the back of the net, but was called back on an offside ruling.
The Dash had many offside rulings on Friday and not very many successful final touches, but this week Coach Waldrum made a statement that final touches are key (per team report). Expect to see the team come out playing as physical as ever; hot and ready to take advantage of FC Kansas City.
So far not three-pete material
Though there has only been three matches in the season, FCKC is not playing like the team we are used to seeing- the team who won back-to-back NWSL Championships. In their campaign for a three-pete, FC Kansas City isn’t doing as well as we expected. Coming off their second loss of the season (0-1 to Seattle Reign FC) and with only one point to their name after a 1-1 draw against Portland Thorns FC, FCKC is looking for any ounce of momentum they can find to keep the Dash at bay and gain their first win of the 2016 season.
Much like Sky Blue FC, fans definitely shouldn’t count FC Kansas City out. The reigning champions know, as well as everyone else does, that they are not holding up to standards by any means. Expect to see FCKC pick up the pace and show that there’s more to them this season than is meeting records.
Injury report:
As of last Friday, Houston fans can still expect to see Melissa Henderson (she’s expected to get back on the field for training on Monday) and Carli Lloyd out while Cari Roccaro remains questionable and Morgan Brian probable.
Houston is ready to add their second win of the season and three more points to their record as they face the team that went from the top to almost the bottom. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed live on the NWSL YouTube platform.