Denver Summit at Boston: Can We Snap Back? (Bonus)

Katie: it's not Arsenal City, ⁓ though kind of feels like Arsenal City and Chelsea are in the house. ⁓ ⁓ been an amazing start to the season by San Diego. ⁓ certainly think ⁓ put in strong performances from the get-go. ⁓ think they create chances in a ⁓ way. ⁓ so far they're probably the team that's come out ⁓ traps the best alongside Angel City, ⁓ Well, ⁓ I didn't ⁓ need to know being this week because my two other appearances here I could and I always get a feel for it and I always ask my Federation can we come back here ⁓ but walking around town even I'm just walking with Harry this week the amount of people that have come up to me to talk about whether it's the national team ⁓ whether it's the summit ⁓ is very obvious committed this ⁓ town is to the women's game and to sports in general. It's a great sports market and one that think can be a leader in the women's game. Not just what happened at mile high but tonight with a sellout. Like this is what the NWSL is looking forward to more of and I think the summit is a new franchise to do what they're doing. I think there's a lot of things that people can learn. And as I said to Nick yesterday, having built a franchise back in the days in WPS, I know how hard it is to get off the ground running. So for him to start as well as he has, he has to lean into that and know how difficult it is. I think his team have been consistent for the most part. And I think the next steps for them are they just have to gel. They're so new. They're pre-season and four or five games. So it's going to take time. think we know that we're competitive. we know that we've got so much more to give. ⁓ I think the part is we've had periods of real dominance against ⁓ that are ⁓ established in this league. ⁓ then ⁓ I think my part is how and how bad are far ⁓ And maybe that's normal for expansion, but that's... ⁓ not healthy for me as a human being ⁓ for you as fans ⁓ So their reaction to coming in on match, we were supposed to be off and decided, no, no, we come in and I was like, yeah, perfect. We come in, we had a really honest meeting and ⁓ I think we're not hiding from these moments. We're attacking them, we're using them and think that's ⁓ really, really refreshing because I've also been in teams where ⁓ maybe excuses and ⁓ start to blame and actually we just attacked it as group and me you know, I will always be that coach that will look in the mirror and see ⁓ and I know

Kate Hanson: Welcome back to the 5280 pitch women's soccer at altitude. I'm Kate Hanson Sunday Gillette stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts. Denver summit FC takes on the Boston legacy at 1 p.m. Mountain time. And I've been sitting with this one for the past few days because there's a lot to unpack before this game. It's more than just two expansion teams playing each other more than just a winless team.

Katie: as fans you guys will be saying he didn't make changes early enough and we should, that's normal, that's why we do it together, right? So. What I think I know now is what I didn't know in March is I think we've got a real chance, a real chance to be a competitive team ⁓ because I think we should be nine points better off. I think we should win in spirit. ⁓ I think that's a pretty game, ⁓ but I think in the way Home Advantage lives in our league, we should that game. ⁓ I think we should definitely win in Seattle. So we should be five points ⁓ definitely. And then we should win one. ⁓ So we should be eight better off, ⁓ in my opinion. And if you look at that puts us, ⁓

Kate Hanson: Desperate for its first point. There is a real story in this matchup and I think that by the end of today's episode You're gonna be excited about this game too And you're gonna be feeling all the feels because I was at practice this week I caught up with Nick Cushing and Carson Pickett and I've got some Emma Hayes Soundbites from her time here in Denver that I want you to hear about this Denver Summit team We have a lot to get into in today's episode. So here's the thing about Sunday

Katie: Yeah, so that's the frustrating part. for us, it's about using the adversity. I always say to the team, adversity is a terrible thing to waste. game is probably at this point a 95 minute game. It's not even 90 anymore so much stoppage time. So ⁓ I think we have to stay in it mentally. Yes, the physical side definitely can catch up to teams. But I think for us, ⁓ I mean, even going and ⁓ having one goal scored against us and still being up, we should have put the throttle on and absolutely scored another goal to kind of put the game away. So I think just kind of staying in it mentally and knowing that we can't have another half like we did in the second half.

Kate Hanson: that I can't stop thinking about. These two teams were announced together, built their rosters at the same time under the same rules, the same allocation money, the same expansion framework. They entered this league as a pair, the 15th and 16th teams, Denver and Boston, Boston and Denver, two cities that had been waiting for an NWSL team. Six games in. They could not be further apart. Denver has won three and two, six points. They've been competitive in every single game. Three clean sheets, a win over the reigning champions, a home opener that broke every attendance record this league has ever seen, and a sellout at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Boston, on the other side, have ⁓ zero points.

Katie: I mean their first win absolutely just can't come against us. So I think just preparing the same way we always prepare. ⁓ Honestly, we're trying not to think about ⁓ the wins and losses of other teams. We're trying just control what we can control personally. But I think it's a really good challenge and it's a great game to kind of snap back against.

Kate Hanson: They've been shut out four times in five games. And last Saturday against Chicago, they had 27 shots on goal, but none of them found the back of the net. Zero goals, 27 shots. Now, and I mean this, 27 shots and zero goals is not a talent problem. That is a confidence problem. And it's a cohesion problem. That's what happens when a group of players who haven't played together long enough are trying to execute a system that requires trust and timing that you can honestly only build over time. Boston's coach, Philippa Poteo, came from Beneficia, five consecutive league titles, Champions League quarterfinals. In other words, she knows what she's doing. But she said after their last game in Chicago, she said, it's hard when results don't come to our side. And Nichelle Prince, who is a 10 year NWSL veteran, she's an Olympic medalist, she said, We want it bad right now, but we need to channel that into composure. So that's a team that knows it's better than its record, which honestly makes them more dangerous on Sunday than their table position suggests. And Carson Pickett, she actually said it better than I can. So let's take a listen. Snap back. That's the word. This team needs to snap back. And there's no better opponent to do that against than a winless side that is disorganized in front of goal and playing with a back line that is, and we'll get into this, genuinely depleted right now. So Boston legacy deserves more than just a the winless team, quote unquote. So let me tell you who we are actually playing. The ownership group for Boston is all women. Pretty sweet. led by Jennifer Epstein, minority owner of the Celtics. The GM is Dominique Gauche, who ran FC Barcelona's women's program during their stretch of European dominance. And the coach, Poteo, is one of the most decorated women's coaches in Portugal. This right here is not a poorly run organization. This is an organization learning the NWS cell the hard way. Their goalkeeper, Casey Murphy, is elite. Gold medalist at the 2024 Olympics. She played every single minute of the NC Courage's 2024 season. She's already made multiple save of the year contenders this season. She is the real reason Boston's goal differential isn't twice as bad as it already is. And she's going to be a problem for the Denver Summit on Sunday. But here's the thing. This is a goalkeeper matchup worth paying attention to. in both directions. Abby Smith, as you all know, she's been crushing it this year. She is tied as league leader with 25 saves on the year, which is amazing. Her goals against average is second in the league. Murphy elite. Smith is right there with her. And while Denver's offense has to figure out how to break Murphy down, Boston's attack has to deal with the exact same problem on the other end. Their attack has Amanda Gutierrez, a Ballon d'Or two-time Golden Boot winner in Brazil. Nichelle Prince is up top with a decade of experience in this league. Aista Traore is on the wing. The pieces, have, ⁓ Boston has the pieces. They haven't clicked yet. We've said this multiple times that Denver is playing like a team. At times, that is not an expansion team. They look like a team that has played together. Boston just hasn't found that cohesion yet. Here's where it gets really interesting for Sunday specifically. Boston's back line is thin right now. Nikki Hernandez, she is out with a thigh injury. Araujo is out with a thigh, Chloe Ricketts ankle, Bianca St. George just returned from suspension and is one of their most used players this season. Their defense, which was already a question mark, is missing bodies. Denver has to know that and Denver has to exploit it. Now Emma Hayes was in Denver for the U.S. Women's National Team match at Dix a couple of weeks ago. So lucky to be able to talk to her a little bit about what this Denver Summit team looks like to her. and what Cushing has built here in Denver. And here's what she said. Emma Hayes talking about your Denver Summit, our Denver Summit, Nick Cushing's team saying that they've been consistent minus that 16 minute lapse in the San Diego game. But remember that's out of mind. We're going to move past that. we did have the opportunity to ask Emma Hayes specifically about Denver, about this city, what she sees ⁓ being built here. at 5280 and here's what she said. a lot of things people can learn from us just six games in. And I don't say that to be arrogant. I say that because Emma Hayes has been doing this longer than almost anyone. And she recognizes that something real is being built here. And I think we felt it before she even said that. Every single one of us who bought a ticket before we even had a roster, every person who drove to Mile High in March, not knowing what to expect, and came home completely converted as a women's soccer fan. We felt it. I was at practice this week and I had the opportunity to talk to Nick Cushing and I asked him a question that I've been sitting with all season. Six games in, what does this team know about itself now that it didn't know in March? how good and how bad are so far apart. That's not a coach hiding behind anything. That's not a press conference answer, honestly. That's someone telling you exactly what it feels like to be on the inside of this thing right now. And honestly, it's what we've all been feeling too. then he said something else that I keep coming back to. I love the fact that this team came in on their day off after San Diego. Nobody told them to. They came in, they had an honest meeting, and they got back to work. That's what Carson was talking about when she said the culture of this team is the best she's ever been a part of. Built from the ground up in four months. These players are not making excuses. They're not pointing fingers. They came in and Attacked it. This team expects to win. They are not approaching this season as a we'll figure it out expansion season. They want to win playoffs, championships. That is the expectation in that locker room. And then Nick got specific about the math, which I thought was really revealing. He's right. Win Seattle, win Washington, we win against the Wave, that's a completely different table position. That's not delusion. That is a coach who understands exactly where the margins are and is being honest about them. The margin against San Diego, we led two nothing. Kessler scored the first ever home goal in club history. Flint headed the rebound. And then the second half happened, three goals, pick it on goal. comeback that has never happened in San Diego's history before. Carson talked about what has to change. 95 minutes mentally. That's the standard. And against Boston, who will throw everything at this game because they need a result more than they've needed anything all season, that standard has to hold. There's one more thing from practice this week that I haven't been able to shake. So Melissa Kussler and Natasha Flint were both limited. Cushing thinks that they will be okay for Sunday, but neither is confirmed. And I need you to understand why this matters. Kessler has four goals in six games. She is tied for second in the NWSL Golden Boot Race. She has been our entire attacking identity. Now, I actually had the opportunity to speak with some of the other press that was at practice, and I was talking about how Olivia Thomas has been one of my favorite players to watch. I love it whenever Thomas takes the field because I think that her speed and her attackingness and the way that she changes the game for the summit is really exciting to watch. That doesn't mean that I want to see Custler out of the game because again, Custler's been our entire attack for our entire attacking identity for these first six games. And Flint, she got her first goal at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, her second of the season. It was starting to look like the physical presence that we needed to have running at defenders. Again, those are our only two goal scores on the season, both question marks going into this game. if one or both of them can't go, Cushing has to find some goals somewhere else. Maybe this is the time that Olivia Thomas gets her moment. Does Allie Brazer, does she come off the bench and get more playing time? Who are we going to see step up and really show us what they got? Because we have been leaning way too hard ⁓ on just two players to be our attack for this season so far. The depth question is something every expansion team eventually has to answer. There is no comfortable version of it, but we have a lot of young talent on this roster and we have a lot of talent with players that I thought we'd see more of. Again, it's talking at practice on Wednesday and Lordis Bosch, how come we haven't seen her take the field more? How come ⁓ haven't seen some of these players that we've been really excited about that got a that I thought were going to be cornerstones of this team, and they haven't taken the pitch once. I do think that we'll see Yamamoto in this game. She and Janine Sonis were working together after practice ended. ⁓ a lot people ⁓ on the were giving Janine Sonis a hard time. She knows that she got beat ⁓ in that Diego game, but you're not going to have to face that type of wing or talent on a consistent basis. San Diego's wings are some of the best in the league. That Brazilian front three is Janine Sonis recognized there was times that she got beat. She was putting in the ⁓ effort practice, which I absolutely love seeing. And she knows where she needs to improve. And she and Yamamoto were working on it together post-practice, which I think is great for bringing in this player in Yamamoto who's new to the team. And it's also great for Sonis to get in those extra efforts. extra reps. What I'll say is this Boston's defense is depleted. Casey Murphy can't do it all alone. If Denver can find a way to create those chances, whoever is upfront has to finish. The opportunity is absolutely there, but you have to put it away. And here's what I keep coming back to in this game. Denver goes to Gillette. There's no altitude there without the home crowd in New England against a team that has lost five straight and is desperate. They've lost five straight. are desperate, truly desperate for anything, a goal, a point, a reason. And that screams, trap came. I'll say it plainly, but I also think this group in Denver is wired differently than most. Carson talked about the team culture and I believe her. Nick talked about players coming in ⁓ on their day These are not words of a team that are going to sleepwalk into Foxborough. They are upset with the way that that San Diego game went. And they know that Boston is hungry for their first win. The tactical picture actually favors Denver. Boston wants to build from the back, patient, precise, relational. That is their system. Denver's high press is specifically designed to disrupt exactly that. Force turnovers in the opposition's half. Win the ball back quickly. Be direct. Against a back line, missing three players and still finding its shape, that press can be devastating. But here's the thing, Murphy knows how to make saves, big saves, saves that can make you want to turn the TV off. Denver has to keep going, keep pressing, keep creating because the team that stays mentally present for 95 minutes, not 70, not 80, not until the 87th minute when you're up and you think it's done, that's the team that is going to win this game. Nick knows that, the players know that. Adversity is a terrible thing to waste. Sunday is our chance to use it. Sunday, 1 p.m., Gillette Stadium, two expansion teams, six games in, ⁓ one of them is figuring out, the other is still searching. We'll be back on Tuesday to break down everything from this game. Until then, follow us, connect with us on the socials. We're on threads on Instagram at 5280pitch. Connect with us online, sign up for the newsletter. There's secret merch that drops there and you get special discounts. Head on over to 5280pitch.com. And also if you are on the newsletter, check your spam because Gmail is crazy with spam these days. So if you are on the newsletter, there's a whole bunch of you. If you're not getting the emails from me, I send them out all the time. You're gonna wanna make sure that this not ending up in your spam folder. So check your spam. Until then, subscribe, listen, share. Let's grow this Denver Summit excitement because we're just at the beginning of the climb. There's nowhere to go but up. There's plenty of room on the summit train. Would love to have you come and join it. Share it with your friends. You don't want to miss it. Thank you so much for being here. All right. And we'll see you after the Denver Summit Boston Legacy game.