Sonis scores as Summit and Dash settle for a 2-2 draw in the NWSL

Janine Sonis had a goal and an assist for the Denver Summit in a 2-2 draw with the visiting Houston Dash on Sunday in the National Women’s Soccer League. Sonis played a perfectly weighted corner along the ground to forward Yazmeen Ryan for the opening goal in the 12th minute. Ryan, who led the Dash [...]

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Janine Sonis had a goal and an assist for the Denver Summit in a 2-2 draw with the visiting Houston Dash on Sunday in the National Women’s Soccer League. Sonis played a perfectly weighted corner along the ground to forward Yazmeen Ryan for the opening goal in the 12th minute. Ryan, who led the Dash in scoring last season while earning the Golden Boot and Newcomer of the Year honors, spun past a Houston defender before firing a near-post strike past Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell.

Houston (4-5-7) responded less than three minutes later as forward Kat Rader slipped a shot past Summit goalkeeper Abby Smith. The 22-year-old Rader has quickly carried her prolific scoring form into the professional league after scoring 32 goals at Duke. With halftime approaching, rookie defender Cate Hardin mistimed a challenge on Summit forward Ally Brazier inside the box, conceding a penalty.

Sonis, who spent two seasons with Houston from 2016-17, converted against her former teammate Campbell to restore the lead for Denver (4-5-4). Houston tied it in the 48th minute when midfielder Maggie Graham’s cross found Linda Ullmark, who scored her first professional goal. Reign tops Thorns in rivalry match Ryanne Brown scored her first NWSL goal, and midfielder Maddie Mercado added another as the Seattle Reign beat rival Portland 2-0 in Seattle.

Brown opened the scoring in the seventh minute, running onto a ball played behind Portland’s defense and beating goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold. It was Brown’s first start of the season after returning from an ACL injury last year. Energy dipped heading into halftime, but midfielder Sam Meza changed the pace with consecutive tackles before regaining possession and lofting a cross toward Mercado, who headed home the second goal in the 44th.

The Reign (5-6-2) held the Thorns (8-4-3) scoreless and secured their first win in five matches. Goalkeeper Cassie Miller made a career-high nine saves in the shutout, just eight days after the 31-year-old goalkeeper made her Reign debut in the 3-1 loss against the North Carolina Courage. Few fixtures in the league carry more intensity than the Seattle-Portland series, with the clubs inheriting the Cascadia rivalry forged by the Sounders and Timbers in Major League Soccer decades before the NWSL’s founding in 2013. ___

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