2014 Houston Dash season
The 2014 season was the Houston Dash's inaugural season as a professional women's soccer team. As the first expansion team to the National Women's Soccer League, United States' top-flight women's league, the Dash played a 24-game schedule that saw them compete against the eight other NWSL teams, playing each at home and away at least once. The Dash finished the season in last place and ended the season with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 16 losses and a -21 goal differential. The season for the Dash began on April 12, 2014, and concluded August 20, 2014 after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs. Background On November 19, 2013, the Houston Dynamo began the initial talks of bringing a top flight women's professional soccer franchise to Houston. Just a week later, the effort was bolstered when the Dynamo began accepting refundable deposits for a potential NWSL expansion team. On December 11, 2013, the National Women's Soccer League announced that the Houston Dynamo and the city of Houston were awarded an expansion franchise to begin playing in the 2014 season. The following day, the Houston Dynamo held a press conference at BBVA Compass Stadium to formally announce the expansion club to the local and national media. During the press conference on December 12, 2013, Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti announced that the club would be named the Houston Dash and would share similar colors to the Dynamo: orange, black, and sky blue. The crest, which features a soccer ball along with the words "Houston Dash" with sky blue lines in the background, was unveiled. Also present at the announcement were Houston Mayor Annise Parker and NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey. On December 23, 2013, former Houston Dynamo player Brian Ching was named "managing director", putting him in charge of day-to-day duties on both the business and technical sides of under the supervision of Houston Dash and Dynamo team president Chris Canetti. Later that week, Ching hired former U.S. women's national team and FIFA Women's World Cup winning coach Tony DiCicco as a consultant to help the Dash in their search for a head coach and building a roster for the first season in the National Women's Soccer League. On January 3, 2014, Randy Waldrum was named as the Dash's first head coach, having previously coached the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer team to two national titles. The first players to be named to the roster (Whitney Engen, Teresa Noyola and Melissa Tancredi) were awarded through the 2014 NWSL Player Allocation. Within a few days Tancredi was traded to the Chicago Red Stars for the Dash's first goalkeeper, Erin McLeod. The Dash later bolstered their roster with 10 additional players through the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. The Dash then went on to trade Danesha Adams to the Washington Spirit for Stephanie Ochs and sent their 3rd pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft to Chicago for Bianca Henninger to round out their off-season moves before the draft. The club also