Facing the Utah Royals FC for the second time, both teams battled to a scoreless draw to end regulation. The officiating was questionable since the Dash had yellow card cautions issued to Kristie Mewis and Allysha Chapman. The Royals had yellow cards issued to Kate Bowen, Tziarra King, and Rachel Corsie. The refs also missed a hold on the jersey of Rachel Daly, which should have resulted in a red card ejection. They also missed a trip by Utah on the Dash as well.
Head coach James Clarkson expresses his frustration by saying that he’s more concerned about the quality of the officiating and that is part of the problem. He said that’s why the match got physical at times and that he’s sick of too many missed calls. “It was clearly a red card in the first half and that would have changed things. Too many fouls were not called and too many things were missed.”
The two teams then participated in 5 rounds of penalty kicks to decide the winner. Royals FC goalie Abby Smith let in goals by Sophie Schmidt, Christine Nairn, and Rachel Daly before saving an attempt by Brianna Visalli.
Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who already had saved 9 of 15 shots faced going into the match, saved the kick by Amy Rodriguez. Lo’Eau Labonta then scored to make it 2-1 Dash. Rachel Corsie needed to score to tie the match and keep Utah’s hopes alive. Campbell saved the attempt and Utah would need to score both remaining shots to send it to sudden death. Tziarra King scored and Verónica Boquete came up short. Houston advanced by a score of 3-2 and fans went wild.
Next up for the Dash was Portland Thorns FC and a trip to the championship match. Rachel Daly’s goal in the 69th minute proved to be the game winner. Houston plays the winner of Sky Blue FC and Chicago Red Stars Sunday at 11:30 am. The game will be carried on CBS as well as CBS All Access and Twitch.
Can the Dash bring home the trophy, or will they disappoint? We find out Sunday.
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