2015 Houston Dash season

Houston Dash

2015 season
Managing Director	Brian Ching
Manager	Randy Waldrum
Stadium	BBVA Compass Stadium
NWSL	5th
NWSL Championship	Did not qualify
Top goalscorer	League: Jessica McDonald (7) All: Jessica McDonald (7)
Highest home attendance	13,025 (July 12 vs. Chicago; sellout, franchise record)
Lowest home attendance	3,499 (June 20 vs. Western New York)
Average home league attendance	6,413
Biggest win	2–0 v. WAS, April 10 2–0 v. WNY, June 20
Biggest defeat	0–3 v. SEA, August 22
Home colours Away colours
← 2014 2016 →
All statistics correct as of September 7, 2015.

The 2015 season is the Houston Dash's second season as a professional women's soccer team. As a member of the National Women's Soccer League, United States' top-flight women's league, the Dash's schedule includes 20 total games (10 home, 10 away) against eight other NWSL teams. The Dash look to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history after finishing in last place during their inaugural season. The 2015 regular season began on April 10, 2015.

Background

College Draft

The Houston Dash selected University of Virginia and U.S. Women's National Team midfielder Morgan Brian with the first overall pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. The Dash also traded awsy the 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft and a second round pick in the 2016 College Draft to Portland Thorns FC for a player to be named later.^[1]

Houston Dash 2015 NWSL College Draft Selections^[1]

Round	Overall	Player	Position	College
1	1	Morgan Brian	Midfielder	University of Virginia
4	31	Carleigh Williams	Defender	University of Central Florida

Preseason

Date	Opponents	Ground	Result F–A	Scorers	Notes
March 18, 2015	Houston Dynamo U-16	Houston Sports Park	0-2
March 25, 2015	Houston Dynamo U-16	Houston Sports Park	0-5
March 29, 2015	Texas Longhorns	Houston Sports Park	2–0	Henderson 55' Ohai 73'

Colours: Green = Houston Dash win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win.

Season Review

April

The new-look Houston Dash kicked off the year's NWSL action with a 2-0 win over the Washington Spirit at BBVA Compass Stadium. Offseason acquisition Carli Lloyd scored the opening goal in first half stoppage time, and last season's club top goalscorer Kealia Ohai put away the second goal five minutes into the second half. The Dash looked revamped in attack and, defensively, collected their first shutout of the season.^[2]

Position at the end of April

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Houston Dash	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3

Club

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Randy Waldrum
Assistant Coach	Marcelo Galvao
Assistant Coach	Hiro Suzuki
Goalkeeper coach	Tom Brown
Athletic Trainer	Kristy Chavez
Massage Therapist	Wes Speights

Last updated: April 13, 2015
Source: Houston Dash

Other information

Owner	Philip Anschutz
Co-Owners	Oscar De La Hoya Gabriel Brener
President of Business Operations	Chris Canetti
Managing Director	Brian Ching
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	BBVA Compass Stadium (7,000 (22,039) / 115x70 yards)
Training ground	Houston Sports Park

Last updated: April 13, 2015
Source: Houston Dash

Squad

The following is a list of players who were under contract with the Houston Dash at any point during the 2015 season.^[3]

N	P	Nat.	Name	Age	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		McLeod, ErinErin McLeod	33	2014	20	0	Undisclosed	Allocated Player	Inactive
2	DF		Williams, CarleighCarleigh Williams	24	2015	0	0	Undisclosed	Free	Rookie season
4	DF		Sesselmann, LaurenLauren Sesselmann	33	2014	0	0	Undisclosed	Allocated Player	Inactive
6	MF		Brian, MorganMorgan Brian	23	2015	1	0	Undisclosed	Free	Rookie season
7	FW		Ohai, KealiaKealia Ohai	24	2014	24	5	Undisclosed	Free
8	MF		Jackson, JordanJordan Jackson	26	2014	20	2	Undisclosed	Free
9	FW		Roche, StephanieStephanie Roche	27	2015	1	0	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
10	MF		Lloyd, CarliCarli Lloyd	34	2015	1	1	Undisclosed	Allocated Player
11	MF		Bock, BrittanyBrittany Bock	29	2014	1	0	Undisclosed	Expansion Draft
12	FW		McCarty, TiffanyTiffany McCarty	25	2014	21	4	Undisclosed	Expansion Draft
14	FW		McDonald, JessicaJessica McDonald	28	2015	1	0	Undisclosed	Trade
15	DF		Chapman, AllyshaAllysha Chapman	27	2015	0	0	Undisclosed	Allocated Player	Inactive
16	MF		Nick, AshleyAshley Nick	29	2014	1	0	Undisclosed	Trade
18	GK		Henninger, BiancaBianca Henninger	26	2014	6	0	Undisclosed	Trade
19	DF		Cross, NikiNiki Cross	31	2014	1	0	Undisclosed	Trade
21	FW		Henderson, MelissaMelissa Henderson	27	2014	10	0	Undisclosed	Trade
22	DF		Ochs, StephanieStephanie Ochs	26	2014	25	0	Undisclosed	Trade
25	DF		Klingenberg, MeghanMeghan Klingenberg	28	2014	9	0	Undisclosed	Allocated Player
30	FW		Masar, EllaElla Masar	30	2014	19	3	Undisclosed	Expansion Draft
40	MF		Axon, RachaelRachael Axon	31	2014	1	0	Undisclosed	Discovery Signing

• Last updated: April 13, 2015
• Source: Houston Dash
  Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.
• Ordered by squad number.

Standings and Match Results

National Women's Soccer League

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Seattle Reign FC	20	13	4	3	41	21	+20	43	NWSL Shield
2	Chicago Red Stars	20	8	9	3	31	22	+9	33	NWSL Playoffs
3	FC Kansas City (C)	20	9	5	6	32	20	+12	32
4	Washington Spirit	20	8	6	6	31	28	+3	30
5	Houston Dash	20	6	6	8	21	26	−5	24
6	Portland Thorns FC	20	6	5	9	27	29	−2	23
7	Western New York Flash	20	6	5	9	24	34	−10	23
8	Sky Blue FC	20	5	7	8	22	28	−6	22
9	Boston Breakers	20	4	3	13	22	43	−21	15

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champion.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
20	6	6	8	21	26	−5	24	4	2	4	11	13	−2	2	4	4	10	13	−3

Last updated: September 7, 2015.
Source: National Women's Soccer League

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	D	L	L	D	W	D	D	W	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	D
Position[n 1]	1	2	4	6	6	4	5	5	4	5	6	6	5	4	4	5	6	6	5	5

Last updated: September 7, 2015.
Source: HoustonDashSoccer.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

Houston Dash v Washington Spirit

April 10, Fri 1	Houston Dash	2 – 0	Washington Spirit	Houston, Texas
19:30 p.m. CDT UTC-5	Lloyd  45 +6' Ohai  50' Masar  71'	Dash report NWSL report Box		Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 6,012 Referee: Katja Koroleva

Sky Blue FC v Houston Dash

April 18, Sat 2	Sky Blue FC	1 – 1	Houston Dash	Piscataway, New Jersey
18:00 CDT UTC-5	Freels  14' (O'Hara)  90'	Dash report NWSL report Box	McDonald  52' (Brian)	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,742 Referee: Elvis Mahmutovic

Boston Breakers v Houston Dash

April 26, Sun 3	Boston Breakers	3 – 2	Houston Dash	Boston, Massachusetts
16:00 CDT UTC-5	King 8' Ezurike 31' (McCaffrey) Evans 55' own goal 72' (Lloyd)	Dash report NWSL report Box	Cross 44' McDonald 65' (Ohai) 58' (Brian) Roche 90'	Stadium: Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium Attendance: 2,376 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Houston Dash v FC Kansas City

May 2, Sat 4	Houston Dash	0 – 2	FC Kansas City	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5		Dash report NWSL report Box	Bogus 42' (unassisted) Groom 51' (Hagen) Moros 63'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 4,186 Referee: Margaret Domka

Houston Dash v Chicago Red Stars

May 15, Fri 5	Houston Dash	2 – 2	Chicago Red Stars	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	Axon 28' (penalty) Ohai 59' (Henderson) Masar 62'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Colaprico 43' Huerta 60' (Hoy),  81' (unassisted)	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,527 Referee: Randall Kelley

Portland Thorns FC v Houston Dash

May 23, Sat 6	Portland Thorns FC	0 – 1	Houston Dash	Portland, Oregon
21:00 CDT UTC-5		Dash report NWSL report Box	McDonald  24' Pressley  86'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 14,409 Referee: Matthew Kreitzer

Sky Blue FC v Houston Dash

May 31, Sun 7	Sky Blue FC	1 – 1	Houston Dash	Piscataway, New Jersey
14:00 CDT UTC-5	Haagsma 11' (Grubka) DeCesare 86'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Bailey 86' (unassisted)	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 958 Referee: Levi Rippy

Houston Dash v Portland Thorns FC

June 6, Sat 8	Houston Dash	0 – 0	Portland Thorns FC	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	Camila 35' Bock 45'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Terry 65'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 4,864 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Houston Dash v Western New York Flash

June 20, Sat 9	Houston Dash	2 – 0	Western New York Flash	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	McDonald  24' Ohai  63' Masar  74'	Dash report WNY report Box		Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,499 Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva

Washington Spirit v Houston Dash

June 27, Sat 10	Washington Spirit	1 – 0	Houston Dash	Germantown, Maryland
18:00 CDT UTC-5	Dunn  56'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Camila  55' Brush  78'	Stadium: Maureen Hendricks Field at the Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 1,267 Referee: Matthew Franz

Houston Dash v Chicago Red Stars

July 12, Sun 11	Houston Dash	1 – 2	Chicago Red Stars	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	McCarty  57' Brush  84'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Colaprico  3' DiBernardo  19' Hoy  61'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 13,025 (franchise record) Referee: Christopher Spivey

FC Kansas City v Houston Dash

July 20, Mon 12	FC Kansas City	1 – 1	Houston Dash	Kansas City, Missouri
19:00 CDT UTC-5	own goal 55' (Pressley)	Dash report NWSL report Box	Masar  40' Lloyd  45'	Stadium: Swope Soccer Village Attendance: 3,557 (sellout) Referee: Randall Kelley

Western New York Flash v Houston Dash

July 25, Sat 13	Western New York Flash	0 – 1	Houston Dash	Rochester, New York
18:00 CDT UTC-5		Dash report NWSL report Box	Lloyd  49' (Klingenberg)	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 4,110 Referee: Margaret Domka

Houston Dash v FC Kansas City

July 29, Wed 14	Houston Dash	3 – 2	FC Kansas City	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	Brush  12' (Ohai) McDonald  17' (Klingenberg) Lloyd  86' (Cross)	Dash report NWSL report Box	Holiday  3' (Rodriguez) Hagen  84'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 6,425 Referee: Matthew Mercier

Washington Spirit v Houston Dash

August 1, Sat 15	Washington Spirit	3 – 1	Houston Dash	Germantown, Maryland
18:00 CDT UTC-5	Dunn  28',  36' (Matheson),  45+1' (Nairn)	Dash report NWSL report Box	McDonald  74' (Ohai)	Stadium: Maureen Hendricks Field Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 5,418 Referee: Margaret Domka

Houston Dash v Sky Blue FC

August 7, Fri 16	Houston Dash	0 – 2	Sky Blue FC	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5		Dash report NWSL report Box	Nadim 38' (Levin) Killion 45' Kerr 72' (unassisted)	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 6,216 Referee: Christopher Spivey

Seattle Reign FC v Houston Dash

August 12, Wed 17	Seattle Reign FC	2 – 1	Houston Dash	Seattle, Washington
21:00 CDT UTC-5	Mathias 22' (Rapinoe) Corsie 59' (Cox)	Dash report NWSL report Box	Ohai 15' (unassisted) Masar 70' Brush 90+'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 6,021 Referee: Cedric Adams

Houston Dash v Seattle Reign FC

August 21, Fri 18	Houston Dash	0 – 3	Seattle Reign FC	Houston, Texas
19:00 CDT UTC-5		Dash report NWSL report Box	Little  42' (Barnes),  74',  90'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 9,530 Referee: Christina Hutchinson

Houston Dash v Boston Breakers

August 30, Sun 19	Houston Dash	1 – 0	Boston Breakers	Houston, Texas
19:30 CDT UTC-5	Masar  34' (McDonald) Masar 35'	Dash report NWSL report Box	Schoepfer 89'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 6,842 Referee: Cedric Adams

Chicago Red Stars v Houston Dash

September 6, Sun 20	Chicago Red Stars	1 – 1	Houston Dash	Bridgeview, Illinois
16:00 CDT UTC-5	DiBernardo 82' Press 90' (Johnston)	Dash report NWSL report Box	Masar 62' (Brian)	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 5,623 Referee: Margaret Domka

Awards

NWSL awards

Date	Award	Recipient	Reference
May 27, 2015	Player of the week for week 7	Bianca Henninger	[4]
August 3, 2015	Player of the month of July	Carli Lloyd	[5]

Squad statistics

Source: NWSL

Key to positions: FW - Forward, MF - Midfielder, DF - Defender, GK - Goalkeeper

N	Pos	Player	GP	GS	Min	G	A	WG	Shot	SOG	Cro	CK	Off	Foul	FS	YC	RC
2	MF	Andressa Cavalari Machry	7	7	630	0	0	0	8	3	1	14	0	5	10	0	0
26	DF	Jazmyne Avant	2	2	171	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	MF	Rachael Axon	15	11	1004	1	0	0	8	4	0	1	0	5	8	0	0
3	FW	Allie Bailey	7	0	126	1	0	0	4	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	0
11	MF	Brittany Bock	5	5	352	0	0	0	5	2	1	0	1	4	4	1	0
6	MF	Morgan Brian	10	10	810	0	3	0	7	5	0	4	0	8	5	0	0
24	DF	Ellie Brush	15	14	1274	1	1	0	6	3	0	0	0	15	6	3	0
9	DF	Camila Martins Pereira	12	6	511	0	0	0	7	1	0	4	0	11	11	2	0
15	DF	Allysha Chapman	5	4	376	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
19	DF	Niki Cross	15	12	1148	0	1	0	3	1	0	2	0	6	10	1	0
21	FW	Melissa Henderson	20	14	1123	0	2	0	16	9	0	50	6	8	7	0	0
8	MF	Jordan Jackson	9	3	334	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	5	1	0	0
25	DF	Meghan Klingenberg	12	12	1046	0	2	0	7	1	0	0	1	3	3	0	0
13	DF	Jen LaPonte	6	3	315	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0
10	MF	Carli Lloyd	12	12	1080	4	0	3	56	15	0	2	6	15	12	0	0
30	FW	Ella Masar	19	18	1606	2	0	1	7	6	1	0	0	11	9	6	0
12	FW	Tiffany McCarty	17	7	741	1	0	0	23	12	1	1	4	3	10	0	0
14	FW	Jessica McDonald	20	19	1675	7	1	2	41	17	0	0	9	8	6	0	0
16	MF	Ashley Nick	3	2	182	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
22	DF	Stephanie Ochs	3	2	154	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Kealia Ohai	19	19	1692	4	5	0	39	21	5	1	24	6	11	0	0
5	DF	Toni Pressley	15	15	1306	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	6	4	1	0
23	MF	Cami Privett	4	2	205	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
9	FW	Stephanie Roche	2	0	24	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
4	DF	Lauren Sesselmann	1	1	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
2	DF	Carleigh Williams	2	1	151	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

N	Pos	Goal keeper	GP	GS	Min	W	L	T	Shot	SOG	Sav	GA	GA/G	Pen	PKF	SO
18	GK	Bianca Henninger	10	9	868	3	4	3	132	44	34	11	1.1	0	1	4
1	GK	Erin McLeod	11	11	932	3	4	3	164	74	60	15	1.364	0	0	2

Notes

1. Houston Dash's position in the league at the end of match day

References

1. "NWSL ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF THE 2015 COLLEGE DRAFT". NWSLsoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. January 16, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
2. "Match Recap: Houston Dash 2, Washington Spirit 0". HoustonDashSoccer.com. Houston Dash Communications. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
3. "Houston Dash Roster". Houston Dash. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
4. "DASH'S BIANCA HENNINGER VOTED NWSL PLAYER OF THE WEEK; Henninger recorded her second shutout of the 2015 NWSL season on Saturday night". nwslsoccer.com. May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
5. "DASH'S CARLI LLOYD VOTED NWSL PLAYER OF THE MONTH; Lloyd helped Houston earn a 2-0-1 record in July to move into fourth in the standings". nwslsoccer.com. August 3, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.

See also