Houston heads were down as the final whistle blew at Zions Bank stadium. Rachel Daly was unable to hide her frustrations in the Utah heat. Ten players and their captain sank to the turf, crestfallen and spent. Another excruciating 90 minutes had passed them by, further deflating their once buoyant aspirations at the Challenge Cup.
It was just two minutes into the match and the Spirit looked to have scored when Kumi Yokoyama creatively flicked Katie Stengel’s botched clearance back towards the Houston goal. Daly bailed out her teammates with a timely block on the goal line, after the ball skipped past keeper Jane Campbell.