New Coach, Same Winning Mentality for Houston Dash 2023 NWSL Season
Houston is ready to Dash On this upcoming NWSL season. The Orange want to consolidate the great season they had in 2022, where they qualified to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. However, if they want to be a title contender this year, they must adapt fast to their offseason changes.
First of all, Houston Dash has a new coach. Sam Laity is replacing Juan Carlos Amoros, who left Houston to coach Gotham FC. Laity has the mission to take the Dash to another playoff appearance and become the person to lead this squad to their first NWSL Championship.
Laity has in Houston a core group that has been playing together for a few seasons now. Nonetheless, the team needs to have good results from the start of the season before they lose some players due to the Women’s World Cup.
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Canadiens Sophie Schmidt, Nichelle Prince, and Allysha Chapman along to England’s forward Ebony Salmon will must likely be in the Australia-New Zealand World Cup in the summer.
On the other hand, Houston will have Maria Sanchez, Shea Groom, Katie Lind among others to support and get good results for the club while the World Cup is being played.
The most notorious additions to the Dash during the offseason were the signings of Diana Ordonez, Courtney Petersen, and Barbara Olivieri. Also, the club signed their draft picks Sophie Hirst, Madelyn Desiano, Jyllisa Harris, and Savannah Madden.
“I see our group performing dynamic, devastating, and being a bit more ruthless around the box. We want to be getting in behind teams, we want to to get down the sides of teams and we want to be creating chaos in the opponent’s box.” coach Laity mentioned after an open scrimmage the team had at Shell Energy Stadium.
With this group of players, the Houston Dash certainly have a competitive squad. If they get strong at home and get good results away from Houston as last season, they will be in the playoffs and will be a championship contender.