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Sofia Huerta Scores First Houston Dash Goal in Loss to Portland Thorns

Sofia Huerta

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 22, 2018) — It didn’t take Sofia Huerta long to get her first Houston Dash goal.

The midfielder, who was just traded from the Chicago Red Stars to the Dash, notched her first goal for her new club in the 12th minute against the Portland Thorns. The trade was completed on June 18.

Sofia Huerta Scores First Houston Dash Goal in Loss to Portland Thorns

After the match, Huerta, who took four total shots, said that if the Dash finish opportunities and capitalize, “we’ll be good.”

“We just needed to finish and believe in ourselves a little bit more,” Huerta said. “We needed to use the right tactics at the end of the game. We’re losing, so we have to keep the ball on the field, we have to press all the way and we can’t sit back. I think those are things we need to keep learning.”

Portland took the lead early with a goal from Tobin Heath. Christine Sinclair assisted the goal. Before the halftime whistle, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic slipped her second goal of the season past Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell.

However, Sinclair would earn the final word.

The veteran Canadian midfielder added to her season total — which now reaches seven — with an 83rd-minute goal. Tyler Lussi, who entered the match in the 66th minute for Crnogorcevic, assisted.

After the match, Thorns FC Head Coach Mark Parsons called the match a “big improvement” from Portland’s 1-1 draw last month in Houston.

“Against a better Houston team, we handled the area of the game we struggled with last time,” Parsons said. “We handled it much, much better. While everyone was important to that, Andressinha had a big-time game in [central midfield], and Celeste Boureille felt like she was indestructible at times. She did so well, tactically, and played a massive role in breaking up play, which is important to us.”

Three Takeaways

  1. Sinclair hits 100 for Portland: The match had more than just goal scoring from Christine Sinclair. The Canadian celebrated her 100th match with Portland against Houston. She was applauded by her teammates — and even opponents — on social media afterward.
  2. Raso working on full comeback: With the depth that Parsons has on his roster, it’s hard to get players back in who have missed time to injury. Hayley Raso is learning that the hard way. After only appearing for 14 minutes against the Chicago Red Stars on June 16, Raso appeared for 34 minutes against Houston. She didn’t take a single shot but conceded two fouls.
  3. Campbell’s rough night: While Sofia Huerta looked comfortable in a new offense, goalkeeper Jane Campbell looked out of place for Houston. The undisputed starter for Houston gave up three goals and had trouble with her distribution throughout the whole night.

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