Both the Houston Dash (3-7-1, 10 points) and the Boston Breakers (2-6-3, 9 points) came into Wednesday night looking for points, and ultimately they got just that as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie on Wednesday night from BBVA Compass Stadium.
Riding the coat tails of Carli Lloyd’s return to Houston and the first win after six straight losses, the Dash welcomed the Breakers, but were notably without forward Kealia Ohai who suffered a season-ending injury last weekend. Ohai, tied with Courage forward Lynn Williams, led the league last year in goals with 11 on the season, indicative of the big loss that she is for Houston. Boston entered the game looking to avoid another winless result. On their side, Rose Lavelle and Abby Smith, both out again due to injury were two noticeable misses from the Boston line up as they aimed to get some points on the road.
After kick off, the first real chance for Houston came in the second minute when Carli Lloyd slotted Rachel Daly forward with a cheeky back heel inside the box, but Daly’s cross was grabbed by Sammy Jo Prudhomme, the rookie keeper for Boston who joined the Breakers out of USC after being drafted as the No. 31 overall pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. This is her second consecutive start for Boston in goal as she fills in for the injured Smith.
Within the first ten minutes, Houston controlled much of the play. The Dash continued to ping the ball back and forth, moving it around and trying different ways to get forward. Boston, for the most part, was on the defensive end inside those first ten minutes.
The first corner of the match came in the 17th minute with Houston in the attacking position. Janine Beckie played it in, but Boston was able to clear it out of the air without any real danger. A few minutes later, Brooke Elby clipped Lloyd, which gave Houston a free kick 30 yards out. Andressinha stepped up and hit a driven ball into Lloyd, who got a head on it but put the ball just wide.
20′ – @HoustonDash‘s Andressinha serves in the freekick and @CarliLloyd nearly puts her header on frame. #HOUvBOS pic.twitter.com/BBFLMGntrg
— NWSL (@NWSL) June 29, 2017
In the 29th minute, the Breakers finally saw their first real chance of the match. Rosie White floated a free kick into the six yard box that was headed by Natasha Dowie, but Dash keeper Jane Campbell came out to grab it out of the air. Two minutes later, Andressinha played one into the box on the other end, and while Daly was able to get a foot on it, it was easily dealt with by Prudhomme.
29′ – @BostonBreakers with the dangerous freekick opportunity but header is collect by @jane_campbell1. #HOUvBOS pic.twitter.com/4KETR2K5WJ
— NWSL (@NWSL) June 29, 2017
With two minutes left in the first half, the Dash saw yet another free kick 40 yards out. Andressinha drove one into the box and Prudhomme was forced to dive through traffic to punch the ball out to safety.
First half possession fell in favor of the Dash at 61%, and they out shot Boston 8-2 in the first 45 minutes, although the game remained scoreless going into the halftime break.
Boston saw its first chance of the second half in the 50th minute off a corner kick from White, but it was easily cleared out by the Houston backline. The best opportunity up until that point for Boston came in the 54th minute as Dowie settled a ball out of the air and turned to fire a shot inside the box, but the ball went wide.
55′ – @BostonBreakers‘ @tatsdowie spins and fires a shot just wide. #HOUvBOS pic.twitter.com/g1ky8ckzmA
— NWSL (@NWSL) June 29, 2017
At the other end of the pitch, Houston saw another chance as Andressinha sent in a free kick into the box in the air and Poliana was able to get a head on it, but it went over the bar in the 59th minute.
The first shot on target for the Breakers came in the 64th minute as Angela Salem stepped up and hit one low and hard, but Campbell was able to make the save.
64′ – @BostonBreakers‘ @asalem6 fires from outside the box but @jane_campbell1 comes up with the save. #HOUvBOS pic.twitter.com/liCQmatgfG
— NWSL (@NWSL) June 29, 2017
Another great chance for the Dash came ten minutes later as a free kick found Poliana’s head again, but Prudhomme was able to deal with this on without a problem. In the 83rd minute, Leon put one in the back of the net, but the referee whistled for a hand ball as it deflected off Dowie’s arm, and the goal was called off. A few minutes later, Dowie dribbled at the backline and tried to bend one around them, but it went wide.
With the clock winding down, Jane Campbell came up with a big save with one minute left to play as she got low to get a hand on an attempt from Leon. After 90 minutes of play, both teams settled for a point as the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
Up next, the Breakers will welcome the Washington Spirit to Jordan Field on Saturday, slated for a 4 p.m. ET kick off. Houston will travel to FC Kansas City for a Sunday night match up set for 8 p.m. ET.
