Match Forecast: OL Reign to Play First of Three Games on the Road Against Houston

OL Reign are set to play their first of three matches in a row on the road, against the Houston Dash. They will be taking on the Houston Dash for the third time this season. After a big win over Portland on Sunday, the Reign will be looking to carry that momentum into their two-week road trip.  

WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, September 1 at BBVA Stadium in Houston, Texas 

WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available on CBS Sports Network 

2021 RECORDS AND STANDINGS (W-L-D): OL Reign: 8-7-1 (25 points, third place), Houston Dash: 6-6-3 (21 points, eighth place) 

Key Points Ahead of the Match: 

1. LAST MEETING – The last time that OL Reign and Houston met was August 7, 2021, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. The match was Sami Laity’s last match as Interim Head Coach of OL Reign. The Reign earned their biggest win of the season scoring five goals against Houston and conceding just one. 

OL Reign took the early lead when Jess Fishlock popped a loose ball into the air following a Dzsenifer Marozsán corner kick and Bethany Balcer got on the end of it, using her head to beat the Houston goalkeeper in the sixth minute. In the 19th minute, Sofia Huerta added a second goal for the Reign, after using her impressive footwork to get by the Houston defense and blast a shot into the left corner of the goal. 

In the 30th minute, Houston found a goal on an unfortunate play that resulted in an OL Reign own goal. Rather than letting that goal deter their efforts, the Reign continued to press on. Le Sommer extended OL Reign’s lead to 3-1 in the 35th minute when she followed up on a shot. Next to get on the scoresheet for OL Reign was Fishlock. She took a showstopping shot from a distance and found the back of the net in the 42nd minute.  

Just before halftime, Balcer found her second of the night. Fishlock laid the ball off to Balcer at the top of the 18-box and the forward only took one touch before burying the ball into the back of the net to earn her second brace of the season. Neither team found the back of the net in the second half and the game ended 5-1.  

2. SCOUTING HOUSTON – The Houston Dash are currently in eighth place in the NWSL standings with 21 points and a 6-6-3 record. Most recently, Houston played Racing Louisville at BBVA Stadium in Houston. Houston came away with a 1-0 win thanks to a 49th minute goal when Nichelle Prince found Rachel Daly in the box. Daly one touched the ball, beating Louisville's goalkeeper at the far post. Notably, on Sunday, August 29, the Houston Dash acquired defender Abby Dahlkemper, USWNT regular, through a trade with the North Carolina Courage. Dahlkemper helped the U.S. earn a bronze medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. 

In regular season matches, OL Reign has won 14 of the 18 games played against Houston 14-2-2. Since Houston joined NWSL in 2014, no NWSL team has more regular season wins against a single opponent than OL Reign against the Dash. 

3. SHORT TURNAROUND – OL Reign started a busy week beginning with the game against Portland on Sunday. Though the team celebrated the win immediately after the game, they had to focus on the match against Houston very quickly, as they got on a plane to begin their long road trip on Monday morning. In addition to playing on Wednesday, the Reign play on Saturday in Louisville. 

With the games being so close together, many players are expected to get an opportunity to rotate through the lineup. It is essential that OL Reign maintain their form, despite the potentially altered lineups. The team has depth at every position and have all come together to find some consistency and chemistry in recent weeks, which should work in their favor. This will be especially important as Houston have lost just one regular season match at home this season.

4. FULL 90 PERFORMANCE NEEDED – The Houston Dash are a very dangerous team that are great at taking advantage of the transitional moments in games. OL Reign must focus on not only being good on the ball but working to control the game off the ball. The team is also looking to find consistency after two games where tension and emotions were running high. 

“For a team like us who like to have possession of the ball, we have to be switched on for the whole game. Over the last couple of years, Houston has really solidified themselves as a transitional team, who can really hurt you in that moment. I think that’s what makes them the most dangerous – how deadly they are in the transitional moments,” said OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey. 

“We’ve got a bigger goal than what happened on Sunday. We have a place we want to get to as a team and we feel we are on track to moving that direction, but we don’t quite feel like we are there yet, so that’s a big driving force in continuing to move forward and flip our concentration and mentality to this game against Houston pretty quickly,” said Harvey. 

MultiCare Injury Report: 

OUT  

Rosie White - Illness  

QUESTIONABLE  

None