Houston Dash Vs OL Reign: 3 things we learned

2. The Dash are good

Entering the competition, expectations were subdued for the Houston Dash. The team finished in seventh place and next-to-last in the league with 21 goals scored in 2019, only one more than Sky Blue FC. But after two games, Houston has shown that they don’t care about the expectations and are here to win.

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When the Dash took what looked to be a commanding 3-1 lead over the Utah Royals, fans were shocked to see that offensive production coming from this team. When the full-time whistle blew and it ended 3-3, it felt like a usual step coming from a rebuilding side.

But on this occasion, their attacking prowess persisted and their defensive structure and security improved substantially. And now there is good reason to believe that this team is better than what most people thought coming into the Challenge Cup. They now have five goals through to games and have scored multiple goals in consecutive games for the first time since May 2018.

Houston’s attack has been the best so far in this competition, which may be a sign of better things to come from one of the worst attacking units in the league a year ago. Whatever comes in the knockout stages, the Dash have shown that they belong, and that is much more than some thought before the tournament began.