Sophie Schmidt goal not enough as Debinha scores twice and Courage down Dash
Spirit defeat Red Stars with stoppage goal in 1st match of the day
Debinha scored twice, including the winner in the 86th minute, and the North Carolina Courage downed the Houston Dash 4-3 in a National Women's Soccer League fall series match Saturday.
Abby Dahlkemper converted a penalty kick in the 18th minute to give the Courage the early lead, but the Dash answered in the 25th when Veronica Latsko scored off Shea Groom's pass.
Kristie Mewis scored in the 37th minute to pull the Dash back in front.
Debinha's strike from distance for North Carolina in the 52nd minute tied it again at 2. The Dash were hurt a minute later when Allysha Chapman of Courtice, Ont., was handed her second yellow card of the match and sent off.
WATCH | Canada's Schmidt scores in losing cause:
After Burnaby, B.C.'s Sophie Schmidt scored in the 70th to give Houston back the lead, Lynn Williams timed her run well and scored in the 83rd minute to tie it again for the Courage. Three minutes later, Debinha scored her second goal for the victory.
The two teams were each playing their opening game of the NWSL's fall series in local markets.
WATCH | Debinha's 2nd goal is the game-winner:
North Carolina, the two-time defending regular-season champion, is playing without U.S. national team players Crystal Dunn and Jessica McDonald, who opted out of the tournament.
The Dash won the recent NWSL Challenge Cup tournament in Utah. But captain Rachel Daly is on loan to West Ham United for the fall series.
WATCH | Stony Plain, Alta., goalkeeper Steph Labbé dashes Houston's hopes:
The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but it was moved to the national CBS broadcast window Saturday after the game between the Portland Thorns and OL Reign was postponed because of poor air quality caused by the wildfires in Oregon.
The Thorns' game against the Reign at Providence Park was rescheduled for Tuesday night.
Jessie Scarpa's 1st pro goal in stoppage time lifts Spirit over Red Stars
Jessie Scarpa scored her first pro goal in stoppage time to give the Washington Spirit a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars in a National Women's Soccer League fall series game on Saturday.
Sarah Luebbert took a cross from Kealia Watt and put it in the bottom right corner to put the Red Stars ahead in the 26th minute. It was Luebbert's first NWSL goal.
Bayley Feist pulled the Spirit even with a goal from near the penalty spot in the 71st minute before Scarpa's goal three minutes into stoppage time.
WATCH | Spirit's Scarpa scores game-winner:
The Red Stars played with 10 players after Savannah McCaskill was shown a red card after a second yellow in the 41st minute and was sent off.
The Spirit opened the fall series with a 2-1 loss to Sky Blue.
Chicago was playing in its first fall series match. The Red Stars played in the title game of the recent Challenge Cup tournament in Utah, but fell 2-0 to the Houston Dash for the title.
The Red Stars were playing without Yuki Nagasato, who was loaned this week to an amateur men's team in Japan, and U.S. national team defender Julie Ertz opted out of the tournament.
