ASN: Ohai setting formidable objectives with the Houston Sprint for the 2019 NWSL season

With the NWSL season set to kick off, Houston Sprint ahead Kealia Ohai has formidable objectives. For one, she needs to be the main scorer within the league however, simply as importantly, she additionally hopes these objectives lead to playoff wins for Houston.

BY

John Halloran

Posted
April 10, 2019
4:00 PM

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HEADING INTO the 2019 season, Houston Sprint ahead Kealia Ohai has two fundamental objectives. The primary is to be the main scorer within the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League.

“My goal this year is to be the leading scorer in the league,” Ohai advised American Soccer Now. “I want to get back with the national team, but I can’t control that, or who they pick. What I can control is scoring goals and [getting] assists. That’s my focus. As a forward, I have to produce. That’s [my] No. 1 job.”

Ohai’s second purpose—and one she calls her “personal mission”—is to guide the Sprint to their first playoff look in franchise historical past.

“It’s frustrating to me that we haven’t made the playoffs yet,” she stated. “I take responsibility for that in some ways because I’ve been here the whole time. That’s something that this year is our No. 1 focus. We have to improve there. There’s just no other excuse.”

Over her 5 years in Houston, Ohai has seen highs and lows with the membership. As the primary enlargement crew in league historical past—and, on the time, solely the second to enter with a Main League Soccer connection—many had excessive expectations from the beginning.

Popping out of the gate, Houston employed an elite faculty coach and made Ohai—who had received a world title with the U.S. U-20’s and a nationwide title with the College of North Carolina—the No. 2 choose within the 2014 NWSL draft. However through the years, and even with a number of high-profile internationals on the membership, the Sprint by no means appeared to determine issues out. In 5 seasons, they’ve gone by 4 head coaches and by no means completed larger than fifth within the league standings.

Ohai calls her expertise with so many coaches “a roller-coaster,” however thinks that is the yr issues lastly change. Within the low season, the crew introduced in James Clarkson, who got here in from the Dynamo facet of the group.

“It’s obviously difficult to continuously be changing staff and trying to figure out different tactics and the way they coach and personalities,” she defined. “It has been hard. That’s something though that I’m really happy with James. I just think it kind of fits finally.”

“James is from the club, the Dynamo side, but he’s from Houston,” she added. “He knows our training facilities, he knows the organization, so it’s not like we’re getting some new person who is new to Houston, who has no idea. It’s just so much easier that he’s already been here, he knows the way things work. That has made the transition a lot easier I think.”

Ohai says that practices this preseason beneath Clarkson have been “awesome” and that the gamers are “loving” his teaching model. And along with the vitality coming from their new supervisor, the Sprint also needs to profit this season from an immense quantity of expertise out there through the summer season months when most groups might be dropping their key gamers to the World Cup.

“I think that our non-internationals [are] some of the best in the league,” Ohai defined. “[On] a lot of teams, the range is bigger. They have a lot of really great players, but a lot of them will be gone at the World Cup.

“We have some pretty incredible girls that are not on national teams and I think that’s what’s going to help us so much this year.”

Along with Ohai, Houston ought to have a number of Individuals with worldwide expertise out there this summer season, together with Amber Brooks, Kristie Mewis, Sofia Huerta, Jane Campbell, Haley Hanson, and Christine Nairn—all of whom have earned caps with the senior U.S. crew, however are unlikely to make the World Cup squad. Through the event, Ohai says the Sprint must “get as many points as we possibly can.”

The ahead can be coming into this season totally wholesome. After ending tied for the league lead in objectives in 2016—after which setting a U.S. document for the quickest purpose ever scored in a global debut that fall—Ohai tore her ACL halfway by 2017. Her restoration lasted into 2018 when she missed the primary few video games and was nonetheless working her method into kind all year long.

However this spring, the Utah native says her knee “feels awesome” and she or he’s prepared to guide the crew to larger and higher issues.

Even with the damage and lengthy restoration, Ohai is the one participant to see motion for Houston in all 5 of their seasons and enters 2019 approaching 100 appearances for the membership. Over that span, she’s seen the membership develop fairly a bit.

“It’s been pretty wild to see from the beginning,” she defined. “Obviously, at that time, the league was new and we were doing our best, but working through so many challenges. Just from a standpoint of the club, the organization—it has improved so much.”

“The Dash have improved as an organization and really tried to make the players’ experience as best as they possibly can,” she added. “Just from little things. I remember my rookie year pretty much every girl lived [with] a host family, every girl was trying to figure out cars and getting to practice and logistics and all that’s gone. Everyone is in apartments, everyone has cars, and just from that standpoint, I think we have improved so much.

“I’m very proud of that.”

John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Comply with him on Twitter.