Two teams searching for their first points of the 2025 NWSL regular season will square off on Sunday. Houston Dash are on the road to face Chicago Stars FC at SeatGeek Stadium, and despite a loss last week during their home opener, the new-look Dash are eager to break a losing streak against the Stars.

Chicago has won four previous meetings against the Dash across all competitions. It’s a streak that includes four clean sheets, and if the Stars record a fifth shutout win, it’ll be the first for an NWSL side against a single opponent in league history. It won’t be easy as the two teams are the only squads with zero points at the moment, so look for some extra pop between both clubs.

The 2025 NWSL regular season is officially underway and fans can watch select matches across CBS platforms including CBS, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, and CBS Sports Golazo Network.

How to watch Chicago Stars vs. Houston Dash

• Date: March 23
• Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Place: SeatGeek Stadium – Bridgeview, IL
• TV: CBS Sports Golazo Network
• Stream: Paramount+

Familiar faces

Houston made lots of offseason moves with midfield upgrades in Delanie Sheehan and Danielle Colaprico, and exciting attacking additions with Yazemeen Ryan and Messiah Bright. Like Colaprico, Dash boss Fabrice Gautrat spent a significant portion of his career in Chicago, as an academy director and as a volunteer assistant coach before promotions to part-time and later full-time assistant roles with the Stars senior side.

The Dash are coming off a 2-1 loss to 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup winners Washington Spirit, and despite the loss, had lots of positives in attack against the title holders. The Dash led in total shots (11), possession (55%), and total passes (432), but Gautrat was particularly impressed with the Dash’s defensive efforts against a solid attacking side in the Spirit.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the game that we would have limited Spirit to five box entries, I would have been like, okay, that’s a good performance,” Gautrat told the media ahead of Sunday’s match.

Gautrat believes the squad has the pieces to build off their performance against the Spirit while on the road against Chicago as they look to improve in areas where they want to execute their tactics.

“I think positionally, we were a little bit off, so that was the thing for us, to get that structure right in order for us to do what we do. And the players saw that if you’re five yards a little too disconnected one way or the other, how it creates a chain reaction. One thing I really liked about the second half, we played with a lot more bravery and possession and we played with a lot more belief and you saw us break their press many times.”

Avoiding last place

Both Chicago and Houston are the only teams without points, all other 12 clubs have managed at least a draw out of weeks one and two. With both teams at the bottom of the table, there’s plenty to play for, and while it’s very early in the season teams know they can set themselves up for success with results. Sometimes, when two teams find themselves pinned in the same corner, they might swing their way out.

“I mean, every game is going to always be like that. Personally, I try not to look at the standings. Obviously, it’s kind of an unrealistic goal of mine,” Patterson joked.

“But, every game is going to be the same mentality of going and punch them in the mouth in the first 10 minutes. So yeah, I think that’s definitely our mentality, and it will probably be theirs as well, but regardless of the table, that will always be what we do.”

Match Prediction

The return of Ludmila will be helpful for Chicago, but it’s game one for the Brazilian international, and the Dash attack looked far more advanced in week one against Orlando Pride. Pick: Dash 2, Chicago 1