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Rachel Daly, Houston Dash Surprise Orlando Pride With 3-1 Victory

Rachel Daly

HOUSTON, TEXAS (July 11, 2018) — At a time when points are crucial, the Orlando Pride couldn’t find success down south.

The Florida-based club traveled to Houston, Texas to face the Houston Dash at BBVA Compass Stadium on Wednesday. The Pride managed to get a goal on board, but the Dash went further.

Rachel Daly, Houston Dash Surprise Orlando Pride With 3-1 Victory

Houston scored three goals in the victory.

Rachel Daly was the leader on Wednesday, notching two goals. Daly scored the goal in the 17th minute and began second-half scoring with a 50th-minute goal.

Kealia Ohai assisted Daly’s first goal. Her second was unassisted.

Five minutes after her second goal, Orlando began gaining momentum. Sydney Leroux scored to cut the score in half. Shelina Zadorsky assisted Leroux’s goal, which is her sixth tally of the 2018 season.

However, Thembi Kgatlana added one more goal in late, second-half stoppage time to seal the deal. Allysha Chapman, a defender from Canada who was acquired during the middle of the season from the North Carolina Courage, assisted.

After the match, Tom Sermanni was frank and didn’t hold back on his side’s performance.

“Tonight was a typical 2018 Orlando Pride performance if I’m being honest,” Sermanni said. “We’d go through spells of the game where we’d really command the game and step up, and then spells where we’d take off the pace and get punished for it.”

Sermanni said that Orlando “started the second half well.”

“I thought for large spells in the second half, once we got back to 2-1, we had numerous spells to get back into the game, but we didn’t put them away,” he continued. “It was a high-quality football game intermingled with passage of mistakes, lethargy and a lack of focus. It’s just very frustrating.”

In goal, Jane Campbell made five saves, denying Camila, Marta, Alex Morgan and two more attempts from Leroux. Meanwhile, for Orlando, Ashlyn Harris made four saves to keep Sofia Huerta and Kyah Simon off the scoreboard.

Harris also had one save against Daly.

Three Takeaways

  1. Screaming won’t help much: So many times, it’s common to see goalkeepers yell at their defenders. However, Ashlyn Harris continued the trend throughout the entire night, ripping into her defense. Was Harris in the right, or should she have exerted a different form of leadership? Tell us in the comments below.
  2. Is Sermanni losing the locker room? We’ve seen what happens when managers lose the locker room. To be frank, Spain is already on their third manager in the last two months. The amount of depth that Sermanni has in the locker room is extraordinary. Is there something wrong with his formations and lineups? Orlando needs points if they want to keep in their playoff spot.
  3. Give Vera Pauw credit: It doesn’t look like the Houston Dash are going to punch their tickets to the NWSL playoffs. However, crazier things have happened and Houston isn’t entirely out. The Dash currently sit in seventh place with 20 points – and Orlando is in third with 25 points. Realistically, it could happen. Give Vera Pauw credit for building a roster that shocked everyone.

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