The 2014 season was the Houston Dash's inaugural season as a professional women's soccer team. As the first expansion team to the National Women's Soccer League, United States' top-flight women's league, the Dash played a 24-game schedule that saw them compete against the eight other NWSL teams, playing each at home and away at least once. The Dash finished the season in last place and ended the season with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 16 losses and a -21 goal differential. The season for the Dash began on April 12, 2014, and concluded August 20, 2014 after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Background
On November 19, 2013, the Houston Dynamo began the initial talks of bringing a top flight women's professional soccer franchise to Houston.[1] Just a week later, the effort was bolstered when the Dynamo began accepting refundable deposits for a potential NWSL expansion team.[2] On December 11, 2013, the National Women's Soccer League announced that the Houston Dynamo and the city of Houston were awarded an expansion franchise to begin playing in the 2014 season.[3] The following day, the Houston Dynamo held a press conference at BBVA Compass Stadium to formally announce the expansion club to the local and national media.
We're proud and excited to welcome the Houston Dash to the NWSL as the first expansion team in league history. The creation of the Dash will mean enhanced opportunities for female soccer players at the professional level as well as the chance for fans from another part of the country to watch and interact with some of the world's most talented players. We are thrilled at being able to add an organization as strong as the Houston Dynamo as we work toward continuing to build a sustainable league.
During the press conference on December 12, 2013, Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti announced that the club would be named the Houston Dash and would share similar colors to the Dynamo: orange, black, and sky blue. The crest, which features a soccer ball along with the words "Houston Dash" with sky blue lines in the background, was unveiled. Also present at the announcement were Houston Mayor Annise Parker and NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey.[5]
On December 23, 2013, former Houston Dynamo player Brian Ching was named "managing director", putting him in charge of day-to-day duties on both the business and technical sides of under the supervision of Houston Dash and Dynamo team president Chris Canetti.[6] Later that week, Ching hired former U.S. women's national team and FIFA Women's World Cup winning coach Tony DiCicco as a consultant to help the Dash in their search for a head coach and building a roster for the first season in the National Women's Soccer League.[7]
The Dash then went on to trade Danesha Adams to the Washington Spirit for Stephanie Ochs[23] and sent their 3rd pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft to Chicago for Bianca Henninger[24] to round out their off-season moves before the draft. The club also announced details of an open tryout for aspiring female soccer players born in 1996 and older to be held on Saturday, February 15 at Houston Amateur Sports Park.[25] Dash head coach Randy Waldrum and managing director Brian Ching will evaluate all participants. Those identified as the tryout's best players will receive an invitation to participate with the team during its pre-season, scheduled to begin on March 10.[25]
The second annual NWSL College Draft took place on January 17, 2014, in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia. The draft order was determined by the final 2013 NWSL regular season standings.[26] Because the Dash were not part of the 2013 season, their position in the draft was to be decided. Initially, according to reports, the Dash were to pick fifth in the first round (between the four teams that missed the 2013 playoffs and the four that made the playoffs), and first in the second and fourth rounds.[27] After the 2014 allocations were released, this was later updated to give Houston the second pick in the first round[28] and the first pick in the third round.[29] After trading for an additional pick on draft day, the Dash left the college draft with four more players on their roster.
^Washington Spirit → Seattle Reign FC → Portland Thorns FC → Houston Dash. 1 July 2013: Seattle Reign FC sent Lindsay Taylor and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft to Washington Spirit in exchange for the Spirit's 2014 College Draft second-round selection.[31] 10 Dec 2013: Seattle Reign FC sent defender Nikki Marshall and the No. 9 pick in the 2014 National Women's Soccer League College Draft to the Portland Thorns in exchange for Portland's No. 6 pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft and a second-round pick in the 2015 Draft.[32] 17 Jan 2014: Portland Thorns traded their 2nd round pick and a player to be named later to Houston Dash in exchange for Meleana Shim[33]
The Houston Dash followed their draft moves by acquiring their first international signing, Japanese defender and 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup winner Aya "Same" Sameshima, on January 24, 2014. Per team and league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.[34]
The Dash began the month of February by revealing their on-field look for 2014 with the unveiling of three sets of Nike kits on February 7 in the West Club of BBVA Compass Stadium.[35] The home uniform features an orange jersey with white shorts, while the alternate uniform is a light blue shirt with white shorts. The Dash will wear a white top with orange and light blue on the sleeves with orange shorts for daily training sessions. BBVA Compass was also announced as the jersey sponsor, signing on a 5-year commitment.[36]
The Dash athletes are exceptional role models for our city, and it is a great honor to see our logo on their jerseys.
— BBVA Compass Houston City President Mark Montgomery[36]
BBVA Compass Houston City President Mark Montgomery said the bank will work with the Dash on several community initiatives, including renovating a house and hosting a youth soccer clinic in the East End, which will help introduce Houston's newest sports stars to their adopted city. The efforts will further the bank's partnership with the Dynamo and Dynamo Charities for their Building a Better Houston campaign, which was started in 2012 to revitalize the neighborhood around BBVA Compass Stadium.
On February 8, the club hosted "Dash Day" to give fans a first opportunity to meet players of the team before the start of the season.[37] Fans would have the option to obtain player autographs, participate in Q&A and photo sessions.
On February 15, over 140 young women from the Houston area showed up at Houston Sports Park to tryout for the team's final roster spot in front of Head Coach Randy Waldrum and Managing Director Brian Ching.[38] To round out news in February, Brian Ching confirmed KKHH radio host Sarah Pepper as the Dash's in-stadium announcer.[39]
Season review
Preseason
The Dash began their first preseason camp on March 10 at Houston Sports Park.[40] Their first ever scrimmage took place on March 19 in a 4–0 defeat of the Rice Owls women's soccer team at HSP.[41] After a Rice own goal gave them the lead, rookie Jordan Jackson and trialist Dominique Richardson alternated setting each other up for the second and third goals of the Dash before Teresa Noyola scored the fourth off a Kealia Ohai assist.[42]
Three days later they picked up their second preseason win, 1–0, over the 2013 SEC Champion Texas A&M Aggies women's soccer team after Kealia Ohai got her first goal of the preseason from a Tiffany McCarty assist.[43] Four days later, the Dash would have their first defeat of the preseason in a 3–1 loss to the Houston Dynamo Academy Under 15 boys team.[44] The Dash would regroup and defeat the visiting Texas Tech Lady Raiders the following Saturday in a 7–0 win.[45] The Dash then traveled up the road to College Station to face the Aggies at their place, where they would win 3–1 against the SEC Champions.[46] The Houston Dash capped off their season by defeating cross-town club Houston Aces 7–1 in their BBVA Compass Stadium debut, exactly one week before their NWSL inaugural match.[47]
On Monday, April 7, the Dash announced their 18-player roster for the NWSL season.[48] The club also signed four more players before the first match of the season. The players signed were Lindsay Elston, Holly Hein, Osinachi Ohale and Dominique Richardson.[49]
Colours: Green = Houston Dash win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win.
April
The Houston Dash debuted at home against the defending NWSL Champion Portland Thorns FC in front of 8,097 fans, the largest attendance for the first week of the season.[50] Portland won 1–0, despite playing without Alex Morgan, on a game-winner by Allie Long. The Dash's Becky Edwards seemed to have scored the tying goal in stoppage time but her goal was ruled offside and the match ended shortly after. The Dash traveled to Harvard Stadium the following Sunday to face the Boston Breakers. Heather O'Reilly scored immediately within the first minute of play and would later assist Joanna Lohman in the 70th minute to overcome Ella Masar's tying goal in the 50th minute of the match. The home team held the lead and looked to be the victor into the last 10 minutes of play. A brace by Teresa Noyola, her second goal coming from a penalty kick, were enough to see the Dash shock the home crowd and earn their first franchise win.[51] The Dash ended the month of April by visiting the league-leader Seattle Reign FC. Kim Little led the way for the Reign with two first-half goals (the only goals of the evening) as the team remained unbeaten and untied to top the NWSL standings.[52]
The Houston Dash returned home to begin the most heavily scheduled month of its season. The first of these seven games featured FC Kansas City's star-studded squad of 2013 NWSL MVP Lauren Holiday, 2013 NWSL Defender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn, 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year Erika Tymrak, 2013 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Nicole Barnhart, along with United States national team players Amy LePeilbet and Amy Rodriguez. Kansas City came off a season that saw them sweep the 2013 NWSL awards with Vlatko Andonovski being named the coach of the year. The Blues proved to be too much star power for the Dash and cruised to a 4-nil victory, which saw the Dash left with 10 women after Osinachi Ohale's red card in the 58th minute.[53]
The following week the Dash traveled to face the Chicago Red Stars at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex. After a three-hour severe weather delay, the Houston Dash lost 1-nil to the Chicago Red Stars and fell to 1-4-0 (3 points) for the season.[54] Dash goalkeeper Bianca Henninger made her first appearance, starting in place of the injured Erin McLeod, and held down the Houston defense with several diving saves until the 33rd minute, when a misplayed ball by Arianna Romero ended up at the feet of Chicago's Jen Hoy, who chipped Henninger and found the back of the net. The Houston Dash then returned to BBVA Compass Stadium to play a rematch of their inaugural NWSL match against the defending champion Portland Thorns FC. The rematch ended with the same result as the first time with Portland winning 1-nil, this time with a second-half goal by Jessica McDonald.[55]
On May 18, the Houston Dash came from behind twice to earn a 2–2 draw on the road against FC Kansas City, ending their four-game losing streak and obtaining the first draw in franchise history.[56] On May 23, the Houston Dash finally got their first goal at BBVA Compass Stadium, but it wasn't enough to get their first points at home as they fell 3–1 to the Chicago Red Stars.[57] Three days later, the Dash came from behind twice to equalize before conceding a heart-breaking goal in stoppage time to lose 3–2 to the Washington Spirit.[58] The Dash would finally close out one of their comebacks on the last day of the month in a 2–1 win at Abby Wambach's Western New York Flash.[59] The win was the second in franchise history and featured goals from Kealia Ohai (her first for the club) and Nina Burger.
Updated to match played March 22, 2014 Source: Houston Dash
Squad
The following is the final list of players who were under contract with the Houston Dash up till the last day of the season. Players that were traded, waived, or otherwise removed from the team have been omitted but their stats may be found in the statistics section of this page.
Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad correct as of August 20, 2014.[60]
The active roster consists of 18-20 players, per NWSL rules.[4] The following list is of players that were active for NWSL play on the last day season. Injured players are not included.
Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad correct as of August 20, 2014.[60]
vs. FinlandN (March 5 – Group Stage)[64] vs. ItalyN(March 7 – Group Stage)[65] vs. EnglandY (March 10 – Group Stage)[66] vs. IrelandN (March 12 – Fifth place match)[67]
vs. FinlandN (March 5 – Group Stage)[64] vs. ItalyN(March 7 – Group Stage)[65] vs. EnglandN (March 10 – Group Stage)[66] vs. IrelandN (March 12 – Fifth place match)[67]
Burger scored 226 goals in her nine years with Neulengbach, claiming the league scoring title six times and was voted player of the year in 2010. At the time of the trade, Burger topped the ÖFB-Frauenliga scoring charts for the 2013–14 season with 20 goals in 12 games. Terms not disclosed.
