World Cup Players Return; Spirit Fall to Dash 2-1
With the Houston Dash leading 2-1 in stoppage time on Saturday evening, returning Washington Spirit World Cup player Mal Pugh lined up to take a penalty kick in the hopes of leveling the game. Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell, however, had other ideas as she guessed correctly diving to her right to make the save and thus preserving the win for the Dash. It was the 4th time Campbell has faced a penalty kick this season and she has stopped them all.
It was a tough loss for the Spirit as they played in front of a sellout crowd of 5,500 at the Maryland SoccerPlex and welcomed back a number of World Cup players. The loss dropped the Spirit to 5-4-3 on the season, and extended their winless streak to five games, including three consecutive losses.
After battling to a scoreless first-half and then withstanding an hour-long halftime lightening delay, the Spirit opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a goal by Jordan DiBiasi which she headed into the net after a long Sam Staab throw-in was first headed by a Houston player right to the waiting DiBiasi who headed it into the net.
However Houston evened it up 4 minutes later on a goal by Kristie Mewis and then went ahead for good on a goal by Amber Brooks in the 72nd minute.
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