After over a month away from league play, NWSL veteran Sophie Schmidt entered as a late-match substitute and stole a point for the Houston Dash Saturday night in a 2-2 draw against Bay FC in San Jose.
Schmidt entered the match for only her sixth NWSL appearance this season in the 82nd minute and six minutes later the 37-year-old scored an unmarked header for the Dash (3-8-3, 12 points) off a corner kick in the 88th minute.
Bay FC (4-6-4, 16 points) thought they had the win in the 74th minute when rookie Taylor Huff scored her first professional goal. Alyssa Malonson received a pass from Penelope Hocking down the left wing and sent a cross across the face of goal that Huff shot off the ground and past goalkeeper Jane Campbell.
That goal came two minutes after Houston’s Kiki Van Zanten scored on a cross to the far post after her defender lost Van Zanten’s position in the 18-yard box. It ended a lead that the home side held for 56 minutes.
In the 16th minute, Hocking scored her fifth goal in the last seven matches when Racheal Kundananji took advantage of a slip from Houston’s Allysha Chapman and sent a cross to Hocking on the far post who buried the shot. The assist was a team-high third for Kundananji this season.
Chapman made up for the mistake in second-half stoppage time when the veteran made a diving slide tackle in front of goal to keep the draw intact.
The draw halts a two-match pointless streak for Bay and three-match streak for the Dash
–Field Level Media
