Houston Dash

Randy Waldrum impressed me by putting together a good team in such short order. Within months, he scouted, traded, trained, and brought to the pitch, his vision of football. His product was superior in many ways to Portland's, whom had over a year to build their core, and chemistry.

The Dash showed a good degree of organization, good passing, and for the most part seemed like a seasoned side, despite never really playing together before this spring.

 

I thought if the match was officiated more consistently-Ella would have been gone. Those collisions with the keeper were pretty deliberate, and then kicking the ball in off the offsides. I have to admit though-I like her bite. I have always liked forwards that had they ability to mix it up and be a prick while doing it (except for Ruiz-but to be honest, if he played for us I might actual like some of his thuggery).

 

I hate to say it, but by the end of this season we may consider the Dash far more attractive to watch (and I don't mean physically) than the Dynamo. I love the system Waldrum plays. Short, rapid passing. Control possession. Press high. Get numbers forward into the attack.

All we need right now is a proven goal scorer (sound familiar?) or one of the forwards to emerge as a goal scorer. I'm hopeful that is Ohai as she has loads of speed. With Masar acting as the target forward/holding up play and Ohai plus Ochs or McCarty running off of her, hopefully the goals will come.

 

Bock tore her ACL. She's out for the season.

 

damn-seriously?! I thought it was an arm injury that kept reoccuring (didn't she initially get it wrapped the first time she went down)?

 

Dynamo will drop the Dash after one year when they see the workers comp and insurance bill for 2015.

 

well at least we have a trainer-ask Ella.

 

Maybe Lopez can fill in for the Dash - it's not like he's going to play for the Dynamo anytime soon

 

No Ohai this weekend. Dash would be two short of a full bench, but flying Rafa Souza in from Ole Miss for this one. New international, a proven goal scorer, arrives hopefully next week.

http://houseofhouston.com/2014/04/18/houston-dash-ohai-update-roster-news/

 

how do you pronounce her first name?

The PA announcer kept saying KAL-LIA
but Chingy told me it was KEL-LEA

I called her Cush's sister-in-law

 

The Chinger way.

 

congrats girls. At least someone in Orange won this weekend.

 

It was a good match.

 

From the Dash roster guide:

kay-‐LEE-‐ah OH-‐hi

 

That Noyola goal was very nice. Perfectly struck, with a lot of curve to the upper corner.

 

Saw the highlghts and it looked like an awesome game offensively.

It looked like two mistakes by the Dash keeper that resulted in the Boston goals. Two difficult saves to make but maybe my standards are too high.

She seems too short and I wasn't too impressed with her in the first game. I remember someone on the keeper notes show had some reservations about her as well when she was announced during the draft process.

Is the backup keeper any taller?

 

These are women we are talking about, height is relative. McLeod is listed as 5'8". The most famous keeper in the world is probably Hope Solo, she is only an inch taller at 5'9". Portland's new keeper, Nadine Angerer, is reigning FIFA Women's Player of the Year. She too is listed as 5'9".

One of the most commonly cited flaws in the women's game by those who opt not to follow it is that the quality of keeping is poor. Relative to the men's game this is almost always going to be true. Still, the quality has improved tremendously in the last 10 years.

That wasn't necessarily on evidence last night with McLeod, though. She made a mess of the two goals, although her defense did little to help her out. How Lohman found herself with so much space inside the box for the 2nd goal I'll never quite understand.

 

Goal-keeping in general is very relative. In the youth leagues, goalkeeping has to be the most thankless position there is. A young keeper can stop breakaways, and distribute the ball well, but most do not have the ability to truly guard the goal. If top pro keepers let goals in during matches how are young, small keepers supposed to stop great shots every time? A tough position for a youth to play, especially for a team with poor defenders.

 

Looking at her standing on the pitch with the other players - I seriously doubt she is 5'8". Things like that get exaggerated all the time for rosters.

 

True, but you can probably say the same about Solo and Angerer. Overriding point being that you won't find 6 foot plus tall keepers just as you rarely see 6 foot tall women in day-to-day life. I look at Stephanie Ochs out on the practice field several times a week and she looks like a giant compared to her teammates. She is 5'9".

 

Might want to double-check the NWSL site. WAS and HOU have 0GD, carryover from their week 1 losses. At the moment, it's 3WNY - 4CHI - 5WAS - 6HOU