Game Analysis Episodes

Denver Summit FC's leading goal scorer this season is a center back — and after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Boston Legacy, that's not a fun trivia answer anymore, it's the whole problem. Denver had thirty-eight touches inside Boston's box and nine shots. One goal came out of it, a Janine Sonis penalty. Kate Hanson spent time digging into why: a league-wide check of all sixteen NWSL teams found Sonis is the only defender leading her own club in scoring, anywhere in the league. Nick Cushing addresses ...

Denver Summit FC doubled Washington Spirit's expected goals in this week's NWSL matchup, out-shot the league's number one team 17-13, and still lost 1-0 — on a shot with a 7% chance of going in. That's the kind of night this episode is built to make sense of. Kate Hanson breaks down exactly how Denver dominated the underlying numbers and walked away with nothing, then goes deep on the 72nd-minute penalty shout on Lindsey Heaps — called live, sent to VAR, overturned — and why she can live with t...

A rookie defender came off the bench and won the first match ever played at Centennial Stadium by scoring her first ever NWSL goal. That's how Denver Summit beat the Portland Thorns 2-1 — and it wasn't even the biggest story on the field. Last week the underlying numbers made this a coin flip leaning Denver, and the process showed up: Denver out-shot and out-passed a third-place Portland side and finally solved the midfield problem that's haunted them all year, on the day Lindsay Heaps made her...

Portland is 3rd in the NWSL. Denver is 11th. Eleven points apart. I ran the numbers anyway, and Portland's expected-goal difference is actually worse than Denver's — the third-place team is being outplayed by the underlying process of the eleventh-place team. I built two match models this week, and they don't agree on who wins Saturday. Along the way: why neither team has won a match this season after conceding first, the Arnold-versus-Smith goalkeeper battle that's closer than either club's re...

Yazmeen Ryan scored her third goal of the season Sunday — a rocket into the top corner against the team that gave her the Golden Boot a year ago. Denver Summit FC acquired Ryan from the Houston Dash in March, and her homecoming goal put the Summit ahead in the 14th minute of a match they'd go on to dominate statistically: 26 shots, 10 on target, both new club records, and a 2.86-to-1.70 edge in expected goals. They still walked away with a 2-2 draw. This week, Kate Hanson breaks down how Denver...

Denver Summit FC had 56% of the ball, out-passed the Kansas City Current, and still lost 3-0 at home. So how does that happen — and why does it keep happening at DICK'S? This week on The 5280 Pitch, we get honest about Friday. The nervous possession game. A high line that got picked apart. All three goals off Denver's own giveaways, and a Kansas City side that never needed the ball to beat us. We break down what Nick Cushing called possibly the second-worst defeat of his managerial career — and...

Denver Summit FC just opened a NWSL facility that wasn't borrowed, wasn't adapted from a men's team — it was designed, from the studs out, for women. And once you hear what that actually meant in the design, you can't unhear it. Ten years ago, captain Janine Sonis was a rookie in Houston, parking on the street and handing her kit to an equipment manager she never saw wash it. This week she walked into a building with a cryotherapy chamber, a dry float tank, red-light therapy, and a first-team l...

Denver Summit FC controlled 58.7% of the ball, out-passed Utah 385 to 280, and had nearly double the crosses — and still walked away with a 2-1 loss. Kate Hanson breaks down exactly what happened in Sandy, why the 72nd-minute penalty call that decided this NWSL match was wrong, and what the numbers actually say about where this Denver Summit FC team is right now. Then it's a full Louisville preview. Racing Louisville is last in the NWSL, has conceded 19 goals through ten games, and is about to...

Denver Summit FC beat Barbara Banda and the Orlando Pride 3-1 on Pride Night — and Tobin Heath and Christen Press were watching. Janine Sonis scored twice. Eva Gaetino scored her first career professional goal in Denver's first home win in franchise history. And the two World Cup legends said they can smell the winning ingredients in Denver. This week on The 5280 Pitch: full match recap, a conversation with Tobin Heath and Christen Press on the Football Loves You campaign and where women's soc...

Denver Summit FC went from 46.8% possession in March's 1-1 draw to 56% and four goals in Houston last weekend. The rematch is Saturday — and this time, the Summit have the ball. Kate Hanson breaks down everything you need to know before Denver Summit FC hosts the Orlando Pride on Pride Night at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park — including post-practice interviews with Ally Brazier, Natalie Means, and head coach Nick Cushing. What we cover: ⚽ Pride Night at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park — fan zone opens...

Denver Summit FC went to Houston and put up a 4-1 road win — and the possession numbers tell the whole story. 38%. 43%. 53%. That's Denver's possession in their last three games. The first two ended in losses. Friday night in Houston, this team looked completely different. This week Kate breaks down what actually changed, why the Ryan and Sheehan homecoming delivered, and whether this is finally the turn in the tide. This week on The 5280 Pitch: ⚽ The possession flip that explains everything...

Denver Summit FC heads to Shell Energy Stadium for a major NWSL road test against the Houston Dash, and this match preview comes with one big question: How different will Denver’s lineup look? On this episode of The 5280 Pitch, Kate Hanson breaks down Denver Summit FC vs Houston Dash, including Nick Cushing’s post-practice comments about expected lineup changes, what those changes could mean after two tough losses, and why this match could become an early turning point for Summit FC. Kate als...

Denver Summit FC blew a second-half lead for the second match in a row, and the pattern is starting to look like an identity. Kate Hanson breaks down the 3-2 loss to Boston Legacy at Gillette Stadium — Yazmeen Ryan's first goal in a Summit kit, Tash Flint's second screamer of the season, Carson Pickett's 15,000th NWSL minute, and the structural problem with leads that cost Denver three points for the second straight match. Boston earned their first win in franchise history on a stoppage-time go...

Denver Summit FC heads to Foxborough to face Boston Legacy FC — the only other expansion team in the league, and the only one still searching for its first win. Their first win cannot come against us. In this episode, Kate breaks down everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's road trip to Gillette Stadium. We dig into why a 0-5 Boston side is more dangerous than their record suggests, what Filipa Patão's system is actually trying to do, and why Casey Murphy is going to be a real problem for...

Denver Summit FC led the #1 team in the NWSL 2-0 at halftime. Then San Diego scored three goals in 16 second-half minutes to break a 30-match curse and walk out of Dick's Sporting Goods Park with a 3-2 win. It hurts. It also tells you something about where this team really is. In this episode, Kate breaks down the full match — from the rehearsed buildup that produced Denver's first ever home goal, to the second-half collapse, to the Pickett own goal that sealed it. We dig into the formation sw...

Denver Summit FC hosts San Diego Wave FC Saturday, April 25 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park — and I'm calling it: Denver wins. The league-leading Wave come to Commerce City on Denver Unite Night in snow, rain, and 33-degree weather at 5,280 feet of elevation. In this preview, I break down why altitude, the Cuiabá travel, and Kenzo Dali's possession game all point to a Summit upset. What's covered: Why San Diego's second-half scoring pattern collapses at altitude Abby Smith's 5.05 goals prevent...

Five games in and Denver Summit FC has allowed just three goals. Three. Tied for the best defensive record in the entire NWSL. For an expansion team in year one, that is not luck — that is a system. And this week we're breaking down exactly how Nick Cushing has built it. We're going deep on Saturday's 0-0 draw at Seattle Reign — how Denver neutralized an unbeaten team, what Abby Smith is doing that puts her in the NWSL's elite goalkeeper conversation, and why the Pickett-Kurtz center back partn...

Denver Summit FC just broke the NWSL attendance record — 63,004 fans at Mile High — and that's only part of the story after four games. Kate Hanson breaks down where this team actually stands: Melissa Kössler's historic goal-scoring run, Abby Smith's league-leading numbers in net, a defensive turnaround nobody saw coming, and a very special guest who was on the field Saturday to witness all of it. Plus a preview of Saturday's road match at Seattle Reign. What we cover: ⚽ Melissa Kössler: 3 go...

Denver Summit FC just beat the defending NWSL champions 2-0. Clean sheet. First win in franchise history. And Melissa Kössler — "The Clinician" — scores for the third game in a row to make NWSL history. But we're not skipping Orlando. Kate breaks down the 1-1 draw against the Pride, why Abby Smith's 10-save, Save of the Week performance is the only reason Denver came away with a point, and why giving up that Barbra Banda birthday goal still stings. Then it's the Gotham recap: how Denver's form...

Denver Summit FC lost their first-ever professional game 2-1 at Bay FC on March 14, 2026, but the story is so much bigger than the scoreline. In the 20th minute, Melissa Kössler headed home the first goal in club history off a beautiful Carson Pickett ball and Janine Sonis cross. Six minutes later, Sonis was sent off with a controversial red card that changed everything. Kate breaks down the VAR decision that upgraded a yellow to a straight red, why the call didn't meet the IFAB standard for ex...

Denver Summit FC plays their first-ever NWSL game on Saturday, March 14th against Bay FC at PayPal Park. This is it—the real thing. In this episode, I break down what to expect from Bay FC, including their massive $1.1 million signing of USWNT midfielder Claire Hutton. Bay struggled to score last season (26 goals, lowest in the league), but they were organized defensively and just acquired one of the best defensive midfielders in the NWSL. I cover Denver's likely starting XI—Smith in goal, Pic...

Coachella Breakdown: What We Learned From Denver’s 7-Goal Preseason The Denver Summit wrapped up their first-ever preseason tournament at the Coachella Valley Invitational with two wins, seven goals scored, and plenty to talk about. In this episode of The 5280 Pitch: Women’s Soccer at Altitude, we break down what actually stood out from Denver’s 2–0 win over Utah and their 5–2 shootout against San Diego — and what it tells us about this expansion team heading into the March 14 opener against Bay FC. Match 1: Utah Royals (2–0) Denver’s first-ever match as a club wasn’t flashy — it was organized. Key Takeaways: Defensive shape was compact and disciplined Possession looked intentional, not frantic Melissa Koestler opened the scoring with a clinical finish Rookie Olivia Thomas came off the bench and scored in her professional debut Utah finished 11th last season, so this wasn’t an elite test — but it was a clean execution of a game plan. For a team playing to…