Lynn Williams scored the lone goal in the eighth minute and NJ/NY Gotham FC made it hold up for a 1-0 road victory over the Houston Dash on Wednesday night.
The scoring sequence began with a cross by Jenna Nighswonger to Ella Stevens, who had her shot blocked by Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell. The ball caromed right to Williams, who drove it into the net for Gotham (3-2-2, 11 points), who stretched their unbeaten streak to three matches (2-0-1).
Houston (1-4-3, 6 points) had a chance to tie in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but Barbara Olivieri’s right-footed free kick was too high. The match ended two minutes later.
Campbell had four saves for the Dash, who are winless in their past five matches (0-3-2). Gotham’s Ann-Katrin Berger made two saves. Wave 2, Royals 0
Jaedyn Shaw converted a penalty kick in the 35th minute and assisted on Makenzy Doniak’s second-half goal as host San Diego extended Utah’s winless stretch to six matches.
The Royals’ Paige Monaghan had the ball hit her left arm in the box to set up the penalty kick. Shaw easily sent her right-footed penalty kick into the net as Utah goalkeeper Mandy Haught went in the other direction.
In the 77th minute, Shaw sent a long pass from the midfield to Doniak, who delivered a left-footed goal from inside the box for the Wave (3-3-1, 10 points). The win was San Diego’s second in its past three matches.
The best chance for Utah (1-6-1, 4 points) came in the 59th minute when Monaghan sent a cross toward the net and Hannah Betfort’s header hit the crossbar. The Royals are 0-5-1 during their rough stretch.
Current 0, Reign 0
Kansas City remained unbeaten and moved into a tie for first place with Orlando, but its persistent offensive attacks were stymied by host Seattle (2-5-1, 7 points).
The Current (5-0-3, 18 points) had a 19-5 edge in shots but were unable to get the ball past Reign goalkeeper Laurel Ivory (six saves). Ivory made a stellar save on Michelle Cooper’s right-footed shot in the 44th minute, while Claire Lavogez’s header in the 64th minute went over the crossbar.
Seattle star Sofia Huerta became the seventh player in NWSL history to surpass 15,000 regular-season minutes of playing time.
