Sophie Schmidt scored in the 95th minute as the Houston Dash snapped a six-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the visiting North Carolina Courage on Friday night.
Schmidt redirected a crossing pass from Yazmeen Ryan with her right foot into the center of the goal from inside the six-yard box for the game-winner for the Dash, who won for the first time since May 11 at Seattle.
Kiki Van Zanten also scored a goal and Jane Campbell finished with three saves for Houston (4-8-3, 15 points).
Riley Jackson scored on a first-half penalty kick for North Carolina (5-6-4, 19 points). The Courage were playing their first game under acting head coach Nathan Thackeray. Thackeray, an eight-year assistant for North Carolina, replaced Sean Nahas, who was fired on Wednesday night.
North Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute on Jackson’s right-footed penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the net for her second goal of the season. The score was set up when Houston defender Maggie Graham was called for a foul for knocking down Jaedyn Shaw on the edge of the box.
Houston tied it seven minutes later on a right-footed shot outside the box by Van Zanten that curled inside the top corner of the far right post following a steal by Graham.
–Field Level Media
