Houston Dash Vs Utah Royals: 3 things we learned – The Dash survive

1. Houston lives to see another day

Much like Utah, there were not a lot of expectations for the Houston Dash side in 2020 either. Houston ended 2019 as the second-worst team in the league, bettering only the Orlando Pride who had to withdraw from the tournament.

Houston’s first game of the Challenge Cup surprised everyone, at one point taking a 3-1 lead over Utah. Eventually, the Dash conceded two goals and left with a draw, but no one expected three goals out of the worst attack in the league last year. Houston followed that three-goal performance with two strikes against OL Reign.

Since then, they have been held scoreless against Sky Blue, the Washington Spirit and now Utah. In a shortened tournament like this, those consecutive shutouts are magnified, but they somehow managed to skate by Utah and are still in with a shout of winning the competition.

If Houston can click in the final third, they can yet make a run to the final. The Dash take on the Portland Thorns, not the North Carolina Courage, who were surprisingly dumped out of the competition by the lowest seed in the draw.

Houston is only two games away from ultimate victory. If they can replicate the attacking potency they started the competition with, they may just end it as champions.