Ana Crnogoru010devic got her first goal. Ellie Carpenter made her debut. Portland Thorns FC got a valuable point on the road.
Those are the silver linings. The reality is slightly grimmer for Portland, who controlled the first half at BBVA Compass Stadium only to let their hosts back into the game. With the Houston Dash equalizing through Kyah Simon after halftime, the 1-1 result felt more like two points than one point won.
“Mixed,” head coach Mark Parsons said, when asked for his evaluation of the game. It’s the same reaction he had a week-and-a-half ago, when the team put up the same 1-1 result in Utah.