England international Rachel Daly’s diving header lifted the Houston Dash to a 1-0 win over the Portland Thorns in the last four of the NWSL Challenge Cup on Wednesday afternoon in Sandy, Utah.
The fourth-seeded Dash, the highest remaining seed in the field, advance to Sunday’s final against either Sky Blue or the Chicago Red Stars, who face off in the second semi-final later Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Eighth-seeded Portland entered on a head of steam after Friday’s upset of the undefeated North Carolina Courage, but failed to record a shot on goal against the resolute defense of Houston, who opened the competition with five goals in their first two matches but had failed to score in their previous three.
Nichelle Prince broke away in a sprint toward Portland’s goal in the opening half but she was caught by defender Emily Menges. Daly, the Houston captain, had the lone shot on goal for the Dash in the scoreless half.
Prince had another great opportunity in the 62nd minute but Portland keeper Britt Eckerstrom punched it away.
But Kristen Mewis’s corner kick in the 69th minute was headed across the mouth of the goal by Sophie Schmidt, where Daly was there to head it in for her third goal of the tournament, breaking the Dash’s scoreless drought.
“We’ve had a lot of chances in the last few games and we haven’t converted them,” said Daly, who has scored three goals in 29 international appearances for England. “I needed to put a goal away today for myself and for the team.
“It was an unbelievable set piece. Kristi’s ball was excellent, Sophie’s header across goal was excellent. All I had to do was pick up the scraps. They did the hard work.”
The Thorns, who won NWSL titles in 2013 and 2017, were hampered by injuries during the Challenge Cup.
Starting goalkeeper Adrianna Franch didn’t play because of a knee injury and defender Becky Sauerbrunn hadn’t played since the opener due to a hip ailment. The Thorns on Wednesday were also without midfielder Lindsey Horan, who was questionable going into the game with a hip injury.
Portland were also down to the team’s third goalkeeper. Eckerstrom started the last two games after Bella Bixby sustained an ACL injury and headed home. As a result, goalkeeping coach Nadine Angerer, the former German national team goalkeeper and Fifa player of the year, was on Portland’s bench as an emergency backup.
