EVANSTON, Ill. (Oct. 23, 2026) – The Houston Dash earned their ninth victory of the season with a 3-1 triumph on the road against Chicago Stars FC earlier tonight. The Dash have now earned seven points from their last three road matches under interim head coach Jaime Frias.
The Dash opened the scoring in the fourth minute after defender Lisa Boattin delivered a free kick into the box. A Chicago defender brought the ball down, but defender Leah Klenke recovered possession inside the box and finished the chance to give the Dash an early lead. The goal marked Klenke’s first professional goal and Houston’s fastest goal of the season. With the finish, rookies have now accounted for 18 of the Dash’s 36 goals this season.
Houston doubled its lead in the 54th minute following an indirect free kick. Boattin delivered the ball toward the far post, where midfielder Maggie Graham finished with a one-touch effort into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season.
Forward Clarissa Larisey extended the Dash’s lead in the 79th minute after midfielder Kiki Van Zanten delivered a cross into the box. Larisey finished with a right-footed effort into the back of the net for Houston’s third goal of the evening.
The Dash created another opportunity in the 14th minute after midfielder Linda Ullmark fired back-to-back shots from inside the box as Houston looked to extend its early lead. Ullmark returned to the starting lineup for the first time since representing the United States at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
Goalkeeper and captain Jane Campbell was called into action in the 25th minute, denying Micayla Johnson’s right-footed effort from inside the box to keep the Dash in front.
Houston created back-to-back opportunities as forward Miljana Ivanović fired an effort from the top of the box in the 36th minute, but goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was well positioned to make the save. Two minutes later, forward Kate Faasse tested Naeher with a header, but the Chicago goalkeeper came up with another stop to keep the Dash from extending their lead. The Dash forced 24 clearances from the Stars backline tonight.
The Dash nearly added a third goal in the 63rd minute after midfielder Kiki Van Zanten played a through ball to forward Kat Rader, but her effort narrowly missed the target. Rader leads the Dash with 10 goals this season and is one goal away from matching the NWSL rookie scoring record of 11 goals in a single season.
Larisey nearly completed her brace in the 86th minute after making a run down the left channel, but her effort went over the crossbar.
The Dash close out the regular season to host the Portland Thorns FC for Fan Appreciation Night on Sunday, Nov. 1 at Shell Energy Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. CT and tickets for the match are available HERE.
