THE BASICS
Houston Dash vs. Seattle Reign FC
Friday, August 21, 7:00 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
FOX Sports 1 – 9:00 p.m. (CHANNEL LISTINGS)
PREVIEW
The Houston Dash (5-7-5, 20 points) host Seattle Reign FC (10-3-3, 33 points) for the second consecutive week and their final meeting of the regular season. Reign FC defeated Houston 2-1 on August 12 in Seattle in a come-from-behind win. Seattle clinched a playoff spot with the win and leads league, while the Dash remained in sixth place.
INJURY REPORT (as of Thursday, August 20)
HOUSTON DASH -- OUT: Stephanie Ochs (right knee ACL surgery); Brittany Bock (abdominal injury); Lauren Sesselmann (left meniscus injury); QUESTIONABLE: Morgan Brian (back pain); PROBABLE: Allysha Chapman (abdominal strain); Bianca Henninger (erector strain); SUSPENDED: Ella Masar (yellow card accumulation)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL TIME (4 meetings): Dash 0 wins, 3 goals … SRFC 4 wins, 12 goals … Ties 0
- AT HOUSTON (1 meeting): Dash 0 wins, 1 goal … SRFC 1 win, 4 goals … Ties 0
- 2015 MEETINGS: 8/12: SRFC 2, HOU 1 (Mathias 22; Corsie 59—Ohai 15)
- FUTURE MATCHES: None.
SCOUTING SEATTLE REIGN FC
Seattle has been the team to beat over the past two seasons, finishing first in the league in 2014 and currently sitting at the top of the table this year. 2014 MVP Kim Little again leads Reign FC, with six goals and six assists this campaign, leading the NWSL in the latter category. Beverly Yanez has been clinical in front of goal for Seattle with nine goals, second in the league. Ten different players have scored for Seattle, who lead the league in goals scored (32) and are tied for the least goals against (18).
DASH FIGHTING FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT
The Dash are still mathematically in the playoff hunt, but are increasingly looking at must-win situations to close out the regular season. If the Dash win out, they would need two of the following situations to occur in order to make the playoffs: Portland not gain more than 7 points, FC Kansas City not gain more than four points, Chicago Red Stars not gain more than a point, or Washington not gain a point. Various tiebreakers would also need to occur in certain scenarios.
