Denver Summit Are Back! San Diego Wave Preview & Why We Win at Dick's(BONUS)

Kate Hanson: Welcome back to the 5280 pitch women's soccer altitude. I'm Kate Hansen. The international break is finally over three weeks of friendlies, training camps and U S women's national team coming through Denver, all of it. And now we are back to some NWSL action this weekend and the summit could not have drawn a bigger match to come home to. It was really exciting to see Lindsay Heaps, to see Yamamoto. It was great to see some of these players that we've just been hearing about. We know they're on the Denver Summit roster, but if you went out to Dix in the snow, you braved the weather to go check out the US Women's National Team there. I was there. It was a great game despite the weather, which we're going to have a little bit of a repeat of that this week because Denver Summit are back home. They have a very tough opponent in the San Diego wave. It's the first ever summit match at Dick's Sporting Goods. And like I said before, on the other side of the pitch is going to be just the best team in the NWSL. San Diego Wave, yep, first in the table, four match win streak, back to back clean sheets, most, best 11 selections for any club for the month of March. ⁓ and Saturday is also the Denver Unite match. The club is going to, if you're gonna be there, well, if you're not gonna be there, why? You should be there despite the weather, which we will get to, but it is going to be the Denver Unite match. The club is pulling in mascots from the Nuggets, Broncos, Rockies, Rapids, and the Avalanche. Every major pro sports team in this city is going to be represented in some form. And I can't tell you how cool it is. This is the summit being welcomed into the Colorado pro sports family, not as new kids, but as equals showing up for each other. That is the energy. And if you've been following the summit on their Instagram at all. Denver has been going to Nuggets games, they've been seen at Avalanche games, they've been everywhere. So it's really cool to see all of our Denver sports teams come together and unite. And there's gonna be really cool scarf for the first 5,000 people that do go to the game ⁓ on So you're gonna wanna be there despite the snow. Yep, ⁓ it's supposed rain. probably turn into snow, low of 33 degrees. It's not gonna be the best weather. So look, I'll just say it upfront. I think that we can win this match. I know that sounds bold against the team that is sitting first in this league, but I've been staring at the numbers all week. And the more I look, the more I think Saturday is going to be our night. So let me walk you through why I think that. let me set the scene here. Denver Summit comes in ⁓ Six points, ninth in the table. Unbeaten though in their last four. And here's the part that nobody is talking about enough. We are tied with San Diego for the fewest goals allowed in this entire league. Three goals through five matches. ⁓ in the first place team. Yeah, how? cool is that same defensive record. Melissa Koessler is tied for second in the NWSL with three goals. Abby Smith leads all the NWSL goalkeepers. She was named to March best 11. And I'm going to come back to Abby in a minute because the numbers on her are even bigger than what a lot of people are saying. San Diego, on the other hand, comes in at 4-1-0. 12 points for straight wins. Four players on the March Best Eleven. That's captain Kenza Dali, center back Kennedy Wesley, Brazilian winger ⁓ rookie Leah Godfrey, who also won NWSL Rookie of the Month for March. But here's the numbers. ⁓ rattling around in my brain. Both teams, same defensive record, three goals allowed each, flipped one of our draws to a win, and we're in the top half of the table with identical defensive stats to the team sitting at the top of the league. That is how close we actually are. We are not a bad team that's been lucky. We are a good team that hasn't figured out the final third yet. And that is a very different problem. Speaking of problems, I got to start with the weather. I can't not because it has been incredible Monday through Thursday here in Colorado for the past few weeks. And then the weekends roll around and all y'all know, I got a couple of kids that play soccer. Who's team manager? Well, yours truly. So my life has been a bit of a nightmare having to reschedule games because of rain and snow and our lack of that for the past four months. So all the fields are a mess. we're looking at more of the same this weekend. the National Weather Service forecast for Commerce City. It's not looking great. It's saying that it's supposed to rain and probably turn into snow. Low of 33, kickoffs at 645. So we're starting in the low 40s with precipitation, most likely falling. And by the second half, we could be watching the snow flurries because, know, mile high. So those of you who have been around Colorado soccer for a while, you know what I'm about to say. The Snow Classico, March 22nd, 2013. USA versus Costa Rica Cup at Dix Sporting Goods Park and it was blizzard conditions. Costa Rica protested the match afterwards. FIFA did deny it, but the ⁓ USA won nothing. And that match is still in the conversation every time somebody says quote unquote Denver soccer weather. Saturday thankfully is not predicted to be that extreme, but it's the same venue. ⁓ Same altitude, same cold, wet, sloppy setup. here's what I want you to understand. San Diego is exactly the type of team that this weather hurts the most. Eunice Eidevall has built the wave around precision. They lead the NWSL in possession. They lead in expected goals. They lead in expected assists. Quick one-touch combinations, patient circulation, technical attackers finding half yards of space in that final third. All that, it gets real hard when the ball is skipping off of wet grass, when first touches get heavy, when players are slipping on turns. when your hands are numb. Denver is built more physically. Cushing has said it himself. His philosophy is attacking intensity, speed, and power. And he has specifically recruited for that players who can exploit the altitude players who can maintain a press for 90 minutes. If Saturday strips this match down to a real slog fest, a cold weather, two feet on the ground, who wants it more kind of game. That is the kind of match that this summit team is built for. So I think that the advantage is us, at least on paper And here's the stat that changed my entire read on the match. San Diego's identity this season is that they are a second half team. They wear you down. They circulate the ball for 45, They wait for a gap. Then they strike. Look at when they actually score. So against Utah, the game winner came in at the 87th minute. ⁓ against Chicago, zero half goals, scored in the and the 72nd minute against Boston, zero first half goals. Ludmia scored in the ⁓ 63rd and Ludmia specifically Seven of her 11 goals have come in the second half. So tied for second most second half goals in the league in that span. So that works beautifully in San Diego at sea level, right? And 70 degrees, beautiful sunshine at Snapdragon Stadium. You can wear teams down because the opponent's legs go before yours do. However, at 5280 in the cold with precipitation falling. The team that's usually wearing other people down in the second half is the one whose legs go first. And that's not just a fan narrative here. That's physiology. That's basic altitude science. Every single athlete who comes to Colorado from sea level gets hit by it. And San Diego's entire game plan is built on the assumption that they are fresher than you are in the 70th minute. Saturday, they won't be. And it's not just the altitude. Their top three attackers, Ludmila, Dudinja, and and Gabby Portillo just flew to Cuba, Brazil for a three match FIFA series. Cuba sits at 541 feet, 90 % humidity, tropical climate. So they went from sea level in San Diego to sea level in Brazil, played three high intensity matches against Canada, South Korea and Zambia, flew back to SoCal and now they're coming to the mile high city with lousy weather. So. It is a nightmare for forwards who rely on explosive pace and high intensity pressing. That is a huge advantage for the opposing team. The opposing team is us Denver summit. So I also want to talk about Kennedy Wesley, whose Kennedy was just here at Dix last week, last Friday for the U S women's national team. She has some idea of what it feels like those three Brazilian forwards who have never set foot. on that field at Dix, never played at that altitude, I think that advantage summit. So if I'm Cushing, which I'm not, but if I'm coaching this team, my game plan all week is simple. Survive the first hour, just survive it. Keep it zero zero through 60 minutes because if we do that, the match flips. Their legs go, our crowd loud, ⁓ subs come on fresh and suddenly We are the team creating late chances. And that's how I think we won this. I expect the Wave to make subs earlier than they'd like to on Saturday. And when you watch the match, count the minute his first attacker comes off. The earlier it is, the more trouble San Diego is in. Our back line specifically Abby Smith, ⁓ she deserves her own segment and this is the stat of the season so far. Abby Smith leads the entire NWSL in goals in 5.05. If you're not familiar with that stat, Goals Prevented compares the expected goals from every shot a keeper has faced to the actual number that went in. It's how much better than average she has performed on her specific shot load. She has faced 8.05 expected goals on target. She's given up three. That gap, 5.05, is league leading. And here's what that actually means. Abby Smith has, by herself, saved this team somewhere between maybe four and five goals a league average keeper would have conceded those goals. That is a point, maybe two in the standings ⁓ from Abby Smith being in that. And let me say this part out loud. Yes, San Diego has their own high impact player who we are going to be talking about, but we have a high impact keeper in Abby Smith. And in terms of actual points added to the table this season, Smith has been more valuable to Denver than almost any player has been to any team in the NWSL. Without her, we are 15th or 16th, not ninth. And that stat is not a hyperbole, it's the math. And that's not all. Save percentage of 88.5%. Leads the league, 23 saves, leads the league, five saves per 90, two clean sheets, 10.8 recoveries per 90 tied for the league lead. If Abby Smith isn't in the conversation for NWSL Player of the Month, not just Best 11 Player of the Month, the voting is broken. So get super hyped for Abby and the fact that she is our keeper and she's playing some of the best soccer of her career. Next stat I want to talk about, and I'm warning you, you're going to have to sit with me on this one for a second. Kayleigh Kurtz is the first player in NWSL history to reach 10. thousand consecutive regular season minutes. Ten thousand consecutive minutes. She has not missed a single minute of league play since June 26, 2021. Four consecutive Iron Woman seasons from 2022 through 2025 and now she's extending it with us. All 450 minutes this season, one of three Summit players to have played every minute. Think about what that means. Every center back matchup, every derby, every rainy night, every 100 degree August afternoon in Houston, every cold road trip, every match after a flight delay, every moment where every other player in this league has had, has at some point been pulled for fatigue, a knock, a rotation call. Kayleigh Kurtz has never been that. In an expansion year, where chemistry is usually the single biggest weakness of a roster. Denver has the most stable defensive variable in the history of this league. You're not just facing a veteran, you are facing a player who hasn't needed a reboot in nearly five years. she's up opposite three Brazilian forwards who just got off a plane. playing for their national team. She has her hands full, but I have confidence in Kayleigh Kurtz as our defensive anchor. I want to shift gears over to Diego for a minute because they made a signing last month that I have to mention. March 27th, two days before the Wave's 2-0 win ⁓ over Chicago, San Diego signed Katarina Macario. from Chelsea her at halftime, largest total value contract in the history of women's professional soccer, period. Her contract runs through 2030, just under $8 million in guaranteed money. San Diego also paid a transfer around 300 to prior out of Chelsea before her contract expired this summer. They're using the NWSL's new high impact player rule, people are already calling it the Rodman rule, after Trinity Rodman's massive signing with the Spirit to fit her salary above the 3.7 million salary cap. Rodman's deal was only the record for two months. two months before McCario, blew past it. You might say, okay, why does that matter for us, Kate? A few reasons. First, McCario probably isn't going to play. She's managing a foot injury, hasn't been in a match day squad yet, so you won't see her, I don't think. But her presence changes the ceiling of this wave roster. They already had their three Brazilian forwards up top. They added McCario on top of that. four elite international forwards for three spots. Second, the homecoming story. Macario was born in Brazil, moved to San Diego at 12, played youth soccer at San Diego Surf on fields literally across the parking lot from where the wave trained now. Two NCAA championships at Stanford, two Mac Herman trophies, who, we have our own Mac Herman trophy winner in Jasmine Akey. If you missed her episode, go back and listen to it. It's so good. But back to Macario, she skipped the NWSL to sign with Lyon. She won the Champions League, moved to Chelsea, and now she is home. That says so much for the NWSL that some of the world's top players are wanting to come back and play in the US. She's only 26, and she's on the biggest contract in women's sports history. She's here in the NWSL, and the NWSL just continues to get more talented and deeper. And third, this is the part that matters for Saturday. The fact that we can line up across from this team, not just compete with them, but defensively match them goal for goal on the stat sheet, on the ledger. and we're playing a match that I genuinely think that we can win. That right there is the story, folks. That says that we belong. We're not just happy to be here. We're here to compete. And for those of you that are going to the game on Saturday, well, if you're gonna be there early, you should let me know so that you can get one of these sweet hats. Yes, folks, these have been the top seller on the 5280pitch.com. They are the match day cap. You've probably seen this sweet logo running around. Some of the players have the cool merch. If you want some really neat alternative women's soccer at altitude merch, gotta get the supporters hat, head to 5280pitch.com. And I do have a new secret hat. It's only available for people who are on the newsletter. If you think this hat is cool, you ain't seen nothing yet. The newsletter exclusive hat is not on socials, it's not on the main site, it's just sitting in the shop for people who actually want open the emails. There is discount codes if you are on the newsletter. So link is in the show notes. head to 5280pitch.com, check out the merch. If you want this cool hat, hit me up on the socials, send me a DM, let me know, and I'll bring you one so that you can get it. And you can save on the shipping. So I've already paid for shipping, I got a whole bunch. Just let me know if you want to. Wear it on Saturday and let's see how much, how many of us spot each other rocking the cool 5280 merch over at Dick's. And if you're not on the newsletter yet, 5280pitch.com, go get signed up. That's where stuff like this drops first. All right, so speaking of Saturday, let's talk about the lineup. Here's who I think that we're going to see in Cushing's 433. Abby Smith and Gull, obviously. Back for Carson Pickett on the left. She has been solid and she has been our best set piece deliverer. Kayleigh Kurtz at center back, Megan Reed next to her. Reed has stepped in for the injured Ava Gaetino and has been really solid. And then of course, Janine Saunas on right. She is our captain. She will be starting ⁓ future. ⁓ I do want to talk about the Gatino situation. So she was seen at the home opener in a walking boot and on crutches. She's been out on every league availability report since. The club is keeping the timeline pretty vague, but Jeff Kassoff has categorized it as an injury that's measured in weeks rather than days. Eva's been posting lightheartedly updates over on the gram and on TikTok saying it's not as bad as feared. But the technical staff is being conservative. I'd assume she is unavailable Saturday with Reed getting the nod. Now let me talk about the midfield because there is a story here. Midfield three, Delaney Sheehan as the number six, Devon Lynch next to her and Tosh Flint. Lynch is a rookie and there's something that doesn't get mentioned enough. leads ⁓ NWSL rookies in minutes played through the first stretch of this season. 416 minutes through four matches, more than any other rookie in the league. And she's doing it partly because our most hyped rookie midfielder, Jasmine Akey, tore her ACL and is out for the season. The season ending injury, it was a brutal blow and Akey was the 2025 Mac Herman trophy winner out of Stanford. She was supposed to be a foundational midfielder for this club. Instead, she's rehabbing for all of 2026. Like I said, I did have her sit down for an interview in the last episode, so be sure to go listen to that and how she's rehabbing and getting ready to come join us again in the 2027 season. But what that means is Lynch, as a rookie, has been thrown directly into the fire, starting every match, playing the bulk of minutes in midfield. And she's been good. She's been a really quick study, but she is still a rookie. And Cushing has rotated her. pulled her for Emma Reagan in the 60th minute against Seattle and the team got better. So watch for that sub on Saturday. I believe that Lynch will start. Reagan will come on late, keeping the midfield organized for the final 30 minutes when the altitude starts to bite. And I have to pause on Tosh Flint because she has quietly also been one of the stories of this season. Tosh has started every match, played every minute, 450 straight minutes. one of only three Summit players to do that alongside Kayleigh Kurtz and Abby Smith. She scored a goal in our first ever franchise win at Gotham and she assisted in Orlando and she's been Cushing's most confident midfielder all year. April 17th, Denver made a permanent, well somewhat permanent, more permanent than what it was. The Summit turned her Tampa Bay Sun loan into a full two-year transfer through 2027. She is locked in. here's the thing, Tosh and Cushing go way back. She was a foundational piece of Cushing's Manchester City squad that won the 2014 FA Women's Cup. When Denver made that transfer permanent last week, they weren't just signing a forward. They were signing Cushing on field general. the one player on this roster who understands his tactical triggers better than anyone else. In a match where discipline is going to be everything on Saturday, that kind of trust matters a lot. The front three, Yasmeen Ryan on left, that's our creative spark, darting runs, decisive movement, Custler in the middle, and Yuna on the right. I do want to watch for Ayo Oki as a potential starter. Oki came in. to Seattle in the 60th minute and immediately created the best chance of the second half. So Cushing could start her. But I, I foresee Cushing sticking with the same starting 11 that he had for the past two matches. Koessler has three goals in five matches tied for second in the NWSL, but her last goal was March 25th. It's been a month. All three of her goals came in the first three matches. She hasn't scored since the team got shut out against Washington and then shut out in Seattle. She's due in a big way and if this match becomes the physical wet field slog that I think it's going to be the goal profile she scores best on, Ariel contested in the box finishing off crosses, that's exactly what this match rewards. Maybe Pickett delivers a set piece, Kurtz gets ahead on it, keeps it alive, Koessler finishes. I could see it being Koessler's time to shine once again. Everyone is worried about San Diego's possession. We've already proven that we can handle possession heavy teams. And here's the kicker on that. San Diego leads the league in possession at 59.6%. But Wave ranks last in the league in total chances created in their recent cycles. They pass a lot. They don't always kill you. San Diego plays very pretty soccer. Denver plays effective soccer, Cushing specifically recruited for physical capacity and power, players who can exploit altitude. The Wave want a recital, we want a fight, and we get to pick where. All right, so what am I expecting on Saturday? A draw is a great result. Best team in the league, same defensive record, a 0-0 or 1-1 grind at Dix in the rain, the cold rain. Extending our unbeaten streak to five, we'll take it all day. A loss isn't catastrophic. They're the best team in the league right now. We're expansion. We're still figuring it out. But the unbeaten streak matters for our identity. And losing it at home in lousy weather, it would sting. Here's the thing I keep coming back to in the second half scoring pattern. I keep coming back to altitude. I keep coming back to the fact that we've allowed the fewest goals in the league that Abby Smith is playing at MVP level, that Kurtz has 10,000 consecutive minutes that Tosh Flint is Cushing's on-field reliable and Cussler is due. That Godfrey for the Wave is a rookie playing in the snow for the first time and that their Brazilian attackers are flying into Denver with zero altitude acclimatization. I think we can win this. 1-0. Set piece goal, picket delivers, Abbey Smith with the clean sheet, Dick's Sporting Goods Park loses its mind. First win in club history at Dick's against the team that's sitting first in the NWSL on Denver Unite Night in front of every major pro sports team in the city. That is the night that I am betting on. And actually before we wrap, have to talk about something bigger than this match. something I think a lot of people in NWSL going to be watching this match specifically for. The NWSL Board of Governors is expected to vote this month, ⁓ maybe even this week ⁓ on whether to flip the league a fall to spring So right now, the calendar runs March through November. Their proposal would flip it. So late summer through late spring, starting as early as next season. Yes, 2027. So ESPN's Jeff Cassoff reported this last week. This has been debated on in league circles for three years now. A similar vote got narrowly voted down in late 2024. Now it's back. MLS already voted in November to make the same switch starting next year. The Players Association released a statement last Thursday and they're not happy. So I'm going to say their exact quote I'm going to read it because I don't want to mess this up. Their exact quote was The right question is not whether the league should flip the calendar, but whether the right conditions exist to do so responsibly. Right now, they do not. So what does that mean? Most players are currently opposed. Why? Cold weather markets, stadium infrastructure, player safety. And which teams get mentioned every single time that this debate comes up? Well, Denver, Boston, Kansas City, New York. This game on Saturday, this is a test case. Under a flip's calendar, we'd be playing home matches through November, through December, through January, through the snowiest month in Colorado, February, all in the snow. Yes, we have, you know, 300 days of sunshine here in Colorado, but we do have cold days and it does snow here. So here's what blows my mind about this Saturday. We're about to play a match at Dix. in what is expected to be snow changing to rain, rain changing to snow, lousy weather, 33 degrees, potentially the exact same week that the board votes on whether this becomes our new normal. This is a live demonstration of exactly what this debate is about. I'm not going to tell you what I think the league should do, though I'll tell you I lean heavily with the players association on this one. The visuals matter. If Saturday at Dix turns into a beautiful match in the snow with a packed house, a great atmosphere, the pro flip side points to it and says, well, look, players love it. They still play great. The fans still show up. I'm not saying not to go. I'm just saying that this is going to be really interesting to see. If the players are slipping around, if the ball's not rolling true, if the crowd is freezing and the scoreline is ugly, Well, then the Players Association just got their talking point. Honestly, you could not have scripted a better night to drop in the middle of this debate. Saturday is not just our first home match at Dix. It's not just our chance to beat the best team in the league. It's also a referendum on what the next decade of this league looks like. And Denver, it is the test case. So Saturday night, 6 45 p.m., Dix Sporting Park, Denver Summit versus San Diego Wave. of the table coming into our cold, cold house. Denver Unite Night, mascots are gonna be there. And if you're gonna go on Saturday, like yours truly, it's gonna be cold. Bundle up, layers, hats, gloves, flasks, whatever gets you through the cold. As always, if you love the show, please, please, please rate, review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts. It helps so much. We reached top 40 on the charts in the United States for a women's soccer location-specific podcast. That is huge, and it's all because of you. share this, share the show with a friend, share it with another supporter. Let's grow women's soccer here in the Mile High City. Be sure to follow me, connect with me over on the socials. I'm on threads, I'm on Instagram, jumping on Reddit. I'm over there all the time. Subscribe to the 5280 Weekly Newsletter at 5280pitch.com. That's where the secret hat dropped and that's where things drop first. That's where you get special discount codes. And if you want this cool hat, you're be out at Dick's on Saturday. You want a hat, send me a message. I'll bring one for you. save on the shipping, can get your sweet 5280 pitch hat there women's soccer at altitude. ⁓ This been the 5280 pitch. I'm Kate Hanson. I'll see you all at Dix on Saturday.