![]() ![]() They'd have to contend with some losses for the Olympics, but so would everyone else and the Dash had planned ahead, making a few offseason acquisitions, building a deeper bench and keeping a solid core of non-national team players around from previous seasons. It was only one game into the season, but the Dash looked like they could be one of the teams to beat. The Dash beat Chicago 3-1, getting big performances from not only Lloyd, but also rookies Janine Beckie and Rachel Daly, who both scored in their NWSL debuts. When the 2016 season kicked off, it was indeed with a statement game from Houston. '" And then, just as quickly as those hopes had been bolstered by a big win in the season opener, everything fell apart. "Siri, this is the year of the Dash." "Hi, Randy, did you say ‘this is the year our hopes will be dashed?' Here's what I found for ‘ Carli Lloyd MCL sprain. Like Waldrum had a conversation with Siri but also there was a lot of background noise. The third season would be, finally, the year of the Dash. The standards for a turnaround in the NWSL get a little skewed when you've got the footsteps of teams like Seattle and Washington to follow in, but really, ninth to fifth as an expansion team isn't terrible - with a few more tweaks to the roster and more availability from the international players, the future was bright. Ultimately, the team finished in fifth, four points shy of the final playoff spot. And then the Dash lost four times in a row, sliding down the table just as the season was wrapping up. Even without Lloyd, Klingenberg, Brian and McLeod, who all missed significant time due to the World Cup, Houston looked poised to earn a postseason berth. Houston lost just four times through the first 14 games of the 2015 season, putting the Dash in a good position to fight for a spot in the top four. And for more than half the season, those on-paper good looks were playing out on the field, too. On paper, that version of the Dash looked miles better than the one that had entered the league as an expansion team the year before. Houston also picked up Jess McDonald from Portland, Niki Cross from Washington, Australian defender Ellie Brush and with the first pick in the 2015 college draft, Morgan Brian. The biggest move was a trade with Western NY that sent Whitney Engen, Becky Edwards and a draft pick to the Flash, with the Dash getting Carli Lloyd in return. Before the 2015 season, Waldrum did a little offseason shopping to further build up the roster. And with players like Kealia Ohai, Meghan Klingenberg, Ella Masar, Erin McLeod and Tiffany McCarty, the Dash already had some of the pieces in place. A dismal 5-16-3 record and a league-low 23 goals scored landing the league's newest team at the bottom of the table at season's end.īut the Dash had a solid head coach in Randy Waldrum, who'd won 400 games as a college coach, including two National Championships with Notre Dame. It was 2014, and the then-expansion Dash finished, perhaps unsurprisingly, dead last. The first year, the before, was Houston's first season in the NWSL. Maybe before, when the Dash were an expansion team, or when the World Cup made a mess of the roster for way longer than anyone planned, but not now. Houston's season was not supposed to go this way. Feel better? Worse? I'll give you four minutes and 26 seconds to recover. Ready? Houston: seven points in 10 games, a 2-7-1 record, six goals for, and the one marshmallow in this defective box of Lucky Charms, only 11 goals against. Get the Cats Scared of Cucumbers video ready in another tab, because you're going to need it. For there is another team floundering in that flooded basement my friends, and like Boston just below them, escape is looking less likely as the weeks go by. And so you'll be sad, and then you'll have to close that tab and go watch Cats Scared of Cucumbers Compilation for the 400th time to feel better.īut if you're feeling sad about the season Boston is having, there's something you should know: the Breakers are not alone. And to be caught up in that line on the table - the one that shows four points in 12 games, a 1-10-1 record, four goals scored, 26 against - you will get sad. That the Breakers are bad, that they're not going to make the playoffs, that a second win may never come are all real things. It's a big, bad number, and it's indicative of the season that the team it belongs to is having. ![]() Looking at the bottom of the NWSL table, it's easy to let your eye go right to the minus-22 that is Boston's goal differential. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |