Evelina Duljan scored her first NWSL goal at the perfect time, striking three seconds into second-half stoppage time to help the visiting Houston Dash tie Racing Louisville 1-1 on Friday night.
Duljan received a pass from Yazmeen Ryan on the right side of the box and masterfully dribbled toward her defender before moving a bit outside for some space. She put a tough-angle shot across the 6-yard box out of the reach of goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer.
Houston (5-8-5, 20 points) completed an unbeaten August with two wins and three draws since the league returned from the international break. Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell made four saves.
Taylor Flint headed in her fourth goal of the year in the 71st minute and Bloomer finished with five saves for Louisville (7-6-5, 26 points).
Gotham FC 2, Pride 0
Esther Gonzalez and Jaelin Howell found the back of the net and Gotham finally got back in the win column on the road against Orlando.
Gonzalez took over the NWSL Golden Boot lead with her 12th goal of the year in the 13th minute, assisted by Rose Lavelle, who was serving as Gotham’s captain for the first time.
One minute into first-half stoppage time, after a teammate’s shot was blocked high in the air, Howell was able to hit a one-time left-footed shot with a running start that sailed under diving goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse.
Gotham (6-6-6, 24 points) hadn’t won in league play since beating Bay FC on June 21, going 0-2-3 in that span. The Pride (8-6-4, 28 points) lost their second straight match and are 0-3-3 in their past six.
Ann-Katrin Berger made three saves for the visitors, and Moorhouse had two for Orlando.
Royals 2, Thorns 1
Paige Monaghan tallied her first goal of the season, 16-year-old KK Ream added a crucial insurance goal and visiting Utah pulled out its first win since April 18 by beating Portland.
After Monaghan’s nifty move to pass herself the ball over a defender and score on the break in the 22nd minute, Utah native Ream scored her first professional goal in the 85th on the rebound after two saved shots. The ball avoided Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and ricocheted in off the far post, giving the Royals (2-11-5, 11 points) a two-goal lead.
Julie Dufour, making her team debut after a recent trade from Angel City, score in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time for the Thorns (7-6-5, 26 points) on a powerful one-timer. It wasn’t enough, as Mandy McGlynn racked up 11 saves to buoy Utah.
Reign 0, Wave 0
Kailen Sheridan recorded five saves to help San Diego earn a draw with host Seattle.
Sheridan had to parry two shots in the first eight minutes, and her final stop for the Wave (8-4-6, 30 points) came in the 87th minute on a center-box header from Jordyn Huitema.
Claudia Dickey had four saves for the Reign (7-5-6, 27 points), who earned their third straight draw despite the Wave controlling 63.5 percent of the possession.
–Field Level Media
