Nice give & go fast action in the box between Daly and Prince: if the shot had been up to the rest of the action it wouldn't have been just a goal, but a screamer, most probably goal of the tournament. It's a shame Daly missed so badly, but these two players, her and Prince, are sure fun to see.
GDI another great cross for the Dash with three or four players in the box to receive it but it goes wide! augh!
She was offside by twice the length of her pony tail? Or maybe just "a mile." Ah. A water break to enliven the match. (Better???)
73' 1-0 Prince high-steps past McCaskill's falling-body block try at 40m left post, runs free to 25m 6-right, threads a short pass to Daly through arc top right -- and continues her run through box top mid-right. Daly turns to 17m arc right, taps diagonal pass behind St. Georges stepping up, to 13m mid-right. Prince takes ball to 5m mid-right, ground cross to 4m right post hits Daly's plant foot and clangs over endline right 👀 in the hunt for a 2nd... pic.twitter.com/WCpbzxI0wX— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 26, 2020 74' 1-0 Hanson overlaps down box right to 12m, drives a ground cross through 2m left post, it somehow misses everybody. 74' 1-0 2H hydration break.
And she's pushed up. Rory Dames listens to me! I wouldn't have taken off McCaskill to make that happen though.
78' 1-0 Houston subs in { 2nd of 3 }: - (2 of 5) #12 Veronica Latsko for #12 Brianna Visalli. ~~ 1-0 Chicago subs in { 2nd of 3 }: 78' (2 of 5) #15 Makenzy Doniak for #9 Savannah McCaskill 79' (3 of 5) #14 Zoe Morse for #33 Katlyn Johnson. 82' 1-0 Hanson right throw-in near own box top. Yellow card on Hanson, for time-wasting. 85' 1-0 Chicago cross from 3m wide right to 4m 1/4 right, Oyster jumps for a clearance header but misses -- then Hill jumps into her back, flattening her forward onto that injured rib. Foul on Hill. 87' 1-0 St. Georges crosses from arc top wide right to 5m right post, Campbell catches high. 87' 1-0 Houston subs in { 3rd of 3 }: - (3 of 5) #17 Erin Simon for #8 Nichelle Prince. No more sub stoppages for Houston.
In these final 10 minutes, I can see Chicago being punished by some fast Houston's counterattack while they unbalance their team in an attempt to score the equalizer.
88' 1-0 DiBernardo drives a long cross to 7m 1/4 left, Hanson heads away. 89' 1-0 Daly fouls Morse. Yellow card on Simon -- for delaying the restart? 89' 1-0 Chicago subs in { 3rd of 3 }: - (4 of 5) #23 Julia Bingham for #29 Bianca St. Georges. 90' 1-0 Naeher fk at 30m box left, sailed to 8m mid-right. Contested header pops straight up to 4m 4-right, Ertz heads it toward right post, Campbell catches.
Chicago has looked gassed this entire last 15-20 minutes. But that's what happens when you've chased the game since the 5th minute.
Naher screws up in the defense. She forgets to play defense outside the box and Chicago kills off the match 2-0.
Hill cheaply loses the ball again on her flank, thus killing another attack: she's been absolutely abysmal for Chicago today.
90+1' (of +5') 2-0 Daly dinks a pass from midfield mid-left toward circle top left, Groom is already 2 steps ahead of Gorden chasing, held onside as she runs past #_. Naeher comes out to 25m center, Groom pokes ball past her on the right and runs past her on the left, catches up at 15m 6-right, passes ball into center back low with net empty. Gorden caught up enough to close the far-post angle, but never the entire goal mouth. Scenes in Utah! 😍@sheabayy2 rounds Naeher and slots it home!2-0 | #HOUvCHI Tune in now on @CBS, @CBSAllAccess, and @Twitch.#NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/p94ceFM8jX— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 26, 2020 THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING#HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/7M0msw2JYP— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 26, 2020
Again, I'd like to apologize to the Dash. They've had a really nice story of being the underdog in this tournament and winning it all. Really heartbroken for Chicago though; they just can't seem to put it all together in playoff situations.