# 2018 Houston Dash season

The 2018 Houston Dash season was the team's fifth season as an American professional women's soccer team in the National Women's Soccer League. Before the start of the 2018 season Vera Pauw was appointed as head coach.

## Team information
### Rosters

Players and squad numbers last updated on June 20, 2018. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Name | Country | Position | Date of Birth (Age) |
| Goalkeepers |||||
| 1 | Jane Campbell | United States | GK | (1995-02-17) February 17, 1995 (age 29) |
| 30 | Bianca Henninger | Mexico | GK | (1990-10-22) October 22, 1990 (age 33) |
| 16 | Sammy Jo Prudhomme | United States | GK | (1993-10-25) October 25, 1993 (age 30) |
| Defenders |||||
| 22 | Amber Brooks | United States | DF | (1991-01-23) January 23, 1991 (age 33) |
| 55 | Janine van Wyk | South Africa | DF | (1987-04-17) April 17, 1987 (age 37) |
| 4 | Allysha Chapman | Canada | DF | (1989-01-25) January 25, 1989 (age 35) |
| 8 | Clare Polkinghorne | Australia | DF | (1989-02-01) February 1, 1989 (age 35) |
| 18 | Kimberly Keever | United States | DF | (1995-09-22) September 22, 1995 (age 29) |
| Midfielders |||||
| 19 | Kristie Mewis | United States | MF | (1991-02-25) February 25, 1991 (age 33) |
| 6 | Meleana Shim | United States | MF | (1991-09-25) September 25, 1991 (age 33) |
| 21 | Taylor Comeau | United States | MF | (1993-07-21) July 21, 1993 (age 31) |
| 9 | Haley Hanson | United States | MF | (1996-02-22) February 22, 1996 (age 28) |
| 10 | Linda Motlhalo | South Africa | MF | (1998-07-01) July 1, 1998 (age 26) |
| 23 | Sofia Huerta | United States | MF | (1992-12-14) December 14, 1992 (age 31) |
| Forwards |||||
| 3 | Rachel Daly | England | FW | (1991-12-06) December 6, 1991 (age 32) |
| 7 | Kealia Ohai | United States | FW | (1992-01-31) January 31, 1992 (age 32) |
| 14 | Nichelle Prince | Canada | FW | (1995-02-19) February 19, 1995 (age 29) |
| 20 | Lindsay Agnew | Canada | FW | (1995-03-31) March 31, 1995 (age 29) |
| 13 | Savannah Jordan | United States | FW | (1995-01-24) January 24, 1995 (age 29) |
| 11 | Thembi Kgatlana | South Africa | FW | (1996-05-02) May 2, 1996 (age 28) |
| 12 | Veronica Latsko | United States | FW | (1995-12-12) December 12, 1995 (age 28) |
| 17 | Kyah Simon | Australia | FW | (1991-06-25) June 25, 1991 (age 33) |

## Competitions
### League standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage (C) | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 57 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 42 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 41 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 37 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 35 | |
| 6 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 30 | |
| 8 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 35 | −23 | 11 | |
| 9 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 52 | −31 | 9 | |

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Stadium | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | D | L | L | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | L |
| Position | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |

### Matches
#### Regular season
## Statistics
### Appearances

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | NWSL | NWSL | NWSL | NWSL | NWSL |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | | | |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||
| 1 | GK | | Jane Campbell | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | | Bianca Henninger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | | Sammy Jo Prudhomme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||
| 4 | DF | | Allysha Chapman | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | | Clare Polkinghorne | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | | Amber Brooks | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | | Kimberly Keever | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | DF | | Janine van Wyk | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||
| 9 | MF | | Haley Hanson | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | | Taylor Comeau | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | | Kristie Mewis | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | | Sofia Huerta | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Linda Motlhalo | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Meleana Shim | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||
| 3 | FW | | Rachel Daly | 22 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Kealia Ohai | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | | Lindsay Agnew | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | | Thembi Kgatlana | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | | Nichelle Prince | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Kyah Simon | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | | Savannah Jordan | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | | Veronica Latsko | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: August 22, 2018. Source: Competitive matches

## Honors and awards
### NWSL Yearly Awards
#### NWSL Team of the Year

| Team | Position | Player | Ref. |
| Second XI | Forward | Rachel Daly | |
| Second XI | Forward | Sofia Huerta | |

### NWSL Monthly Awards
#### NWSL Player of the Month

| Month | Result | Player | Ref |
| June | Won | Rachel Daly | |

#### NWSL Team of the Month

| Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| March | Jane Campbell | Rachel Daly | | |
| April | | | | |
| May | | | Kristie Mewis | Rachel Daly |
| June | | | | Kealia Ohai |
| July | | | | Rachel Daly |
| August | | Taylor Comeau | Sofia Huerta | |

### NWSL Weekly Awards
#### NWSL Player of the Week

| Week | Result | Player | Ref |
| 9 | Won | Rachel Daly | |
| 17 | Won | Jane Campbell | |

#### NWSL Save of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 2 | Won | Jane Campbell |
| 4 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |
| 6 | Nominated | Amber Brooks |
| 7 | Nominated | Van Wyk |
| 8 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |
| 14 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |
| 17 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |
| 20 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |
| 22 | Nominated | Jane Campbell |

#### NWSL Goal of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 7 | Nominated | Kristie Mewis |
| 9 | Nominated | Kealia Ohai |
| 14 | Won | Kealia Ohai |
| 17 | Nominated | Rachel Daly |
| 21 | Nominated | Kealia Ohai |
| 22 | Nominated | Sofia Huerta |

## Player transactions
### 2018 NWSL College Draft

    Source: National Women's Soccer League
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Previous Team |
| Round 1 | 7 | Haley Hanson | MF | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| Round 2 | 12 | Kimberly Keever | FW | University of Washington |
| Round 3 | 28 | Veronica Latsko | FW | University of Virginia |
| Round 3 | 30 | Abby Elinsky | DF/MF | University of North Carolina |
| Round 4 | 33 | Sarah Shimer | GK | University of Washington |

### In

| Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| January 12, 2018 | Savannah Jordan | FW | Portland Thorns FC | Acquired in trade for Andressinha. |
| January 16, 2018 | Lindsay Agnew | FW | Washington Spirit | Acquired in trade for 3rd pick in 2018 NWSL College Draft. |
| January 18, 2018 | Christen Press | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Acquired in trade for Carli Lloyd and Janine Beckie. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 31, 2018 | Michaela Hahn | MF | Apollon Ladies F.C. | Signed during the offseason |
| January 31, 2018 | Allison Wetherington | MF | Portland Pilots | Signed during the offseason |
| February 1, 2018 | Linda Motlhalo | MF | JVW FC | Signed during the offseason |
| February 13, 2018 | Tiffany Weimer | FW | Washington Spirit | Acquired in trade for Dash's natural fourth-round pick in 2019 NWSL College Draft |
| February 17, 2018 | Thembi Kgatlana | FW | University of Western Cape | Signed during the offseason |
| February 28, 2018 | Kyah Simon | FW | Boston Breakers | Acquired rights during Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| March 6, 2018 | Meleana Shim | MF | Växjö DFF | Signed during preseason |
| June 7, 2018 | Clare Polkinghorne | DF | Brisbane Roar | Signed during season. |
| June 18, 2018 | Sofia Huerta | MF | Chicago Red Stars | Acquired in trade for Christen Press and 2020 first round draft pick. |
| June 18, 2018 | Taylor Comeau | MF | Chicago Red Stars | Acquired in trade for Christen Press and 2020 first round draft pick. |

### Out

| Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| October 23, 2017 | Kelly Conheeney | MF | | Waived. |
| January 12, 2018 | Andressinha | MF | Portland Thorns FC | Traded for Savannah Jordan. |
| January 19, 2018 | Carli Lloyd | MF | Sky Blue FC | Traded (along with Janine Beckie) as part of a three team trade that also included Christen Press, Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 19, 2018 | Janine Beckie | FW | Sky Blue FC | Traded (along with Carli Lloyd) as part of a three team trade that also included Christen Press, Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| February 6, 2018 | Poliana | DF | Orlando Pride | Traded for Orlando Pride's natural second-round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft |
| February 8, 2018 | Bruna Benites | DF | | Waived. |
| March 9, 2018 | Cami Privett | MF | | Retired. |
| March 19, 2018 | Cari Roccaro | MF | North Carolina Courage | Waived. Signed with the North Carolina Courage. |
| March 19, 2018 | Camille Levin | MF | Vålerenga | Waived. Signed with Vålerenga in the Toppserien. |
| March 21, 2018 | Tiffany Weimer | FW | Washington Spirit | Waived. Claimed off waivers by the Washington Spirit. |
| June 18, 2018 | Claire Falknor | MF | EDF Logroño | Waived. Signed with EDF Logroño in the Primera División. |
| June 18, 2018 | Alli Murphy | MF | | Waived. |
| June 18, 2018 | Christen Press | FW | Utah Royals FC | Traded along with a 2020 first round draft pick as part of a three team trade involving the Chicago Red Stars and Utah Royals FC. |
| August 16, 2018 | Michaela Hahn | MF | | Retired. |