Houston Dash; the last hope for soccer playoff glory

With the Dynamo 2 dropping their playoff match last weekend and the Houston Dynamo looking to next year, the final vestiges of Houston soccer championship hopes rest on the Houston Dash. The Dash team have never earned a playoff berth in franchise history yet they have been the most likely to succeed this year.

The Houston Dash have endured a season filled with adversity and challenges. They have met each head on. Saturday night's loss at home to the OL Reign may have been the first time, the Dash have failed to meet a goal. This Saturday, they must regroup.

The Houston Dash have been built for this moment. They brought in the firepower with Ebony Salmon. They added insurance with Valerie Gauvin. They elevated Ryan Gareis to a more prominent role. They have moved Maria Sanchez and Nichelle Prince around the pitch. They added Caprice Dydasco to the backline.

They have two coaches in first assistant Sarah Lowdon and interim head coach Juan Carlos Amoros who are not afraid to adjust the starting formations and use creativity to exploit the opposition. They have a strength and conditioning coach in former Houston Dynamo midfielder/defender Corey Ashe who has this team in shape physically and mentally for this moment.

Unlike other Houston Dash teams, this one has had the success on the road that no other team has had inn Houston soccer history. They are one of the best in the NWSL in 2022 and being on the road this season has been better than playing at home.

Saturday night should be a fulfillment of all the hard work put in not just this season but since day one back in 2014. The team is prepared to take the pitch and make history against not the only the defending NWSL champion but the team who eliminated them last season.

“It is redemption at this point," shared Dash captain Katie Naughton. "We know what happened last year. We don’t need to revisit it and I think it is a new story. It’s a new book.”