CHICAGO – In the second match of the Thorns Spring Invitational, presented by Tillamook, Chicago beat Houston 2-1 thanks to a Christen Press brace and the strong efforts by Alyssa Naeher.

Houston found the first scoring opportunity with the duo of Janine Beckie and Nichelle Prince, but a shot off the crossbar saved Chicago from going down in the fourth minute of the match.

In her first game back with Chicago for 2017, Naeher made tremendous stops to keep the match level, blocking a shot from the penalty spot from Prince.

Minutes before the first half ended, Houston took down Jen Hoy in the penalty box, rewarding Chicago with a penalty kick. Captain Press stepped up and converted the shot to give Chicago the lead in the 41st minute.

Within minutes of the second half, Houston narrowly found the equalizer when Ohai found Poliana inside the box, but Naeher once again came up with a big save. Houston continued to put the pressure on the Chicago backline when Poliana took her shot just wide.

With great ball movement from Sofia Huerta, Vanessa DiBernardo, Danielle Colaprico and Press, Chicago neared another goal, but the captain’s shot was hit just wide of the frame with 10 minutes remaining in the match.

After a foul from Taylor Comeau, Houston was awarded a penalty where Melissa Henderson equalized the match 1-1 in the 82nd minute.

Chicago immediately applied the pressure to Houston in hopes of winning their first preseason match of 2017. Summer Green, a second half substitute, would slot the ball perfectly to Press who would finish the ball to the right of the Houston goalkeeper to give Chicago the final lead of the match.

– CHICAGO RED STARS MATCH REPORT –

MATCH: Chicago Red Stars vs. Houston Dash – Thorns Spring Invitational, presented by Tillamook
DATE: March 29, 2017
VENUE: Providence Park; Portland, OR
KICKOFF: 7 p.m. CT
ATTENDANCE: n/a
WEATHER: 57 degrees, cloudy

Scoring Summary:      1          2          F
CHI                                1          1          2
HOU                              0          1          1

CHI – Christen Press (penalty kick)                              41st minute
HOU – Melissa Henderson (penalty kick)                    82nd minute
CHI – Christen Press (Summer Green)                         84th minute

Chicago Red Stars Lineup: 1-Naeher; 6-Short, 5-Naughton, 13-Proffitt (34-Luba, 46); 7-Comeau, 24-Colaprico, 29-Ratcliffe (19-Green, 65), 10-DiBernardo (30-Kaskie, 87); 11-Huerta (25-Kolander, 82), 23-Press (capt.), 2-Hoy (4-Mautz, 46)
Substitutes: 3-Gilliland, 9-McCaffrey, 12-Walls, 14-Gorden, 15-Raetzman, 16-Johnson, 18-Dalton
Head Coach: Rory Dames

Houston Dash Lineup: 24-Campbell; 2-Polina, 4-Benites, 55-Van Wyk (5-Roccaro, 74), 8-Falknor, 12-Brooks (23-Privett, 77); 17-Andressa (27-Heap, 62), 13-O’Sullivan (21-Henderson, 69); 7-Ohai (capt.) (25-Crosson, 69), 16-Beckie (3-Daly, 69), 14-Prince
Substitutes: 1-Henninger, 22-Ochs, 18-Williams, 33-Munerlyn
Head Coach: Randy Waldrum

Stats Summary: CHI / HOU
Shots: 7 / 12
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Saves: 4 / 2
Corner Kicks: 2 / 8
Fouls: 16 / 6
Offside: 3 / 5

Officials:
Referee: Jason Perlewitz
Asst. Referee: Lucas Brooks, C.J. Kool