Denver Summit FC: Nine Games Left and Four Points From an NWSL Playoff Spot

Katie: Yeah, I mean today was just awesome. I'm really happy with our results, with my personal goal, with the everyone that scored and just like the team performance in general. We needed that.

Kate Hanson: Well, that was fun. Six goals, five assists, eight different players with a goal contribution, and the most goals any team this league has scored in a single match all season. I told y'all you needed to be there. It was a sellout crowd. That was Saturday night at Centennial Stadium, folks. If you weren't there, well, it was a ton of fun. And I'm sure if you're watching on TV, even if you got up to go to the bathroom for a minute, came back, and the score was different again. And I sat there in that press room and I couldn't stop doing the math because on Friday I told you Denver needed a fifth score. I said we had four players carrying 84% of our goals, and somebody needed to step into the light. Well, two of them did. Yuzuki Yamamoto got her first NWSL goal, and Olivia Thomas got her first NWSL goal. I did predict 2 0, which you know, once again, my prediction. Prediction record is not something I'm putting on a t-shirt. Welcome back to the 5280 Pitch Women's Soccer at Altitude. I'm Kate Hansen. And we need to talk about Saturday night properly. Because, what a night. Lindsay and Yuzu, the two droughts that ended, where we actually sit now, and then we have a tough challenge on Sunday when Gotham comes to town. But Saturday night was fun. So we're gonna talk about that. And I want to go back to something that I said on Friday because I'd set a test and I did not expect the answer this fast. So I told you I was watching the chances, not the score line. And I said if Denver put up 60% of the ball again and couldn't turn it into goals against the worst road team in this league, then the finishing problem wasn't just a slump. It was the ceiling. And 10 Games wouldn't be enough. Well, on Saturday, we had 61.7% of the ball. Second highest of our season. And we scored six. Six big chances to Chicago's one, 18 shots to six, fifty-two touches in their box to ten, and 193 completed passes in the final third to Chicago's 57. For nine straight matches on this show, I have been telling you that Denver gets into good spots and then does nothing when it gets there. Saturday, we got into good spots and we did something. So I'm going to enjoy that for about 10 more minutes before I put the reporter hat back on. So let's talk about Saturday. Thirteen minutes. That's all it took. And it took us exactly one shot on target to do it. So Yazuki picks the ball up, finds Janine on the outside edge of the box. Well, she found Lindsay Heaps, and Lindsay Heaps did a snazzy little heel poke. Back to Janine, took everyone on Chicago by surprise, and Janine buries it. Ninth of the season. By our left back. Janine Sonas. She's having an MVP caliber season. Six minutes later, Lindsay Heaps swings in across, And MK is sitting in the six-yard box just waiting for it. And she has a beautiful header home. Suddenly it is 2-0 19 minutes into this match. And on Friday, I said if we were able to get up one on Chicago, there was no looking back. And folks, Denver Summit did not take their foot off the gas, they did not look back, they kept the pedal to the metal. And that first half was about as controlled as this team has looked all year. 66% of the ball and Chicago had one shot. One in 45 minutes. They did have another shot, but it doesn't count because they were offsides. But Kat Astman did get a Good look at a hard shot, made an incredible save, but again, it wouldn't have counted anyways because it was offsides. But she looked ready, she looked good, and they only had that one legit shot in 45 minutes. And then, folks, the second half just got silly. 47th minute Tosh Flint comes off the bench and puts Yuzu in for her first goal in this league. And you could see the excitement on her face. Suddenly it's 3-0, but not for long. Chicago got one back through Julia Grosso in the 53rd. And Nick was honest about that one. He in the press conference afterwards, he said it came off a straight square pass, which against a counterattacking team, it is a gift. That was the only thing all night that he wasn't happy about. and honestly after that goal was scored, it looks like Chicago wasn't really even sure how that play came to be, how they were able to get that goal, how and if the goal was even going to count. It was a very Muted celebration. They were at 3-1, so I guess it's understandable. Denver Summit was not done because three minutes later, Tosh answered it herself, unassisted, and just a rocket of a shot. I think that Tosh has to have one of the hardest shots in this league. And I thought she was going to do a one-timer shot, but she gave herself just a little bit of space and then boom, fires it into the back of the net. And again, the Denver summit weren't done. Two minutes after that, Ayo Uke feeds MK again, and she's got her brace. And then 85th minute, Devin Lynch. She's on the field. She came on as a sub in the second half. And she found her first assist of the season to Liv Thomas. And Liv, we got to see her speed on display. She has a breakaway goal. 60 plus yards the Chicago defense was chasing her. They grab her just outside the box. Didn't phase Liv. She brushes them off and buries it home. And Liv gets the one that the whole building had been waiting on. The place just erupted. We have to talk about the bench because a number of those goals in the second half were were assisted or by the bench players. So five substitutes, 132 minutes, two goals and two assists were between the bench. And we were already up 4-1, and instead of just sitting on the lead, the depth went and extended it. That is a different team than the one I watched at Providence Park just two weeks ago. And one more thing before we move on. Kat Assman started again in place of Abby Smith. She looked good. It was the second week in a row, which tells you Abby Smith is not a hundred percent. I think it makes sense that we put Kat in for this game against a struggling Chicago team. Let Abby sit, let her rest. Same with Ava. Ali Brazier was out with an illness. Nick told us in sh the Chicago preview show that if Abby's fit, she's automatic. So that's a question I still will be chasing this week. It'll Land on threads and on Instagram stories first, like it always does. So be sure to follow on the socials at 5280Pitch to stay up to date with all the injuries, all the illnesses, and all the breaking news. okay, so This is the part of the show I want to spend some real time on. Lindsay Heaps started. I wasn't expecting it. I he said on Thursday. Nick said that Lindsay would be off the bench if she played, if she was healthy. Well, she went onto the bench at the forty-fifth minute, but she started. it was the first time back at Centennial since the swelling in the knee. when she was that late scratch. First time in three matches wearing the armband. And from the opening kick, she and Yazuki Yamamoto looked like they'd been playing together for two years. Lindsay and Yuzu were on the same page from the opening kick. They were pa they were doing give and goes. You go, I'll run, I they were on The same page and just look at where our first two goals came from. Yuzu creates the first one and passes it to the center. Lindsay does that fancy little heel kick over to Janine. And then Lindsay creates the second one. Both first half goals from those two inside 19 minutes. Lindsay played 45, and in 45 minutes, she created two chances, completed 13 passes in the final third, and put in three crosses. Between the two of them, Lindsay and Yuzu attempted nine crosses. That was the game plan with th service and somebody standing in the six-yard box. And it worked. And Lindsay got two assists and four appearances now. Three hundred and fifteen minutes as a summit player, two assists. That is a goal contribution every 158 minutes from a player who's still being eased in to a brand new team that has a bit of an injury. And I I've spent a lot of this season telling you to stop building arguments around Lindsay Heaps coming. Me back because essentially we've we've never had her. I stand by that, but the ball moved faster with her on the field on Saturday, and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise. Now, Nick told a story in that press conference that's gotten that is the best two minutes of tape I've gotten all year to date.

Katie: we had a conversation where we said to Lindsay, We've got two ways of playing here. You can go in at thirty minutes at the end or you can start and come out at half time. She says sixty five minutes. And I said these are these are not the two options that she says sixty five minutes. So I said, Okay, you start the game. I actually don't know if she thought she was playing sixty five minutes, but we addressed it at half time and she came out. So She just wants to help this team and what I loved about Lindsay of course she's a world-class player, she helps us, you can see her leadership. So first time I've ever sat on the bench with Lindsay Heaps and There was like 50% coach, 50% super fan. Because she was engaged in the game all the way through at 4-1, at 5-1, at 6-1. shows me that she has a real love and passion for this football club and that for me is the most important thing.

Kate Hanson: He gave her two options. 30 minutes at the end of the game or start and come off at half and she goes 65. That was not one of the two options, Lindsay. and then she sits down on that bench at 4-1, at 5-1, at 6-1, still completely dialed in. And Nick is sitting next to her calling her 50% coach and 50% super fan. Now let's talk about Yuzu because she's a Japanese international and she does have to speak through a translator. So I feel like we haven't gotten to know enough about her yet. That was the most comfortable Yuzu has looked since she got to Denver. And it's it's not just a feeling. look at the workload. she played 72 minutes. Before Saturday, she had played 187 minutes across six matches. That's about 31 a game. Saturday was more than double anything she had been asked to do. And she was everywhere. 48 touches, 23 passes in the final third. Six crosses, three shots, and her first goal in this league plus an assist in the same match, which makes her the third summit player to ever do that after Janine and Tosh. Seven matches into a brand new league in a brand new country, and on Saturday, she looked like she belonged in it. And I think that her and Lindsay have found something special the way that they play together. It's going to be fun to continue to watch as this team grows. All right. Now there were some droughts. I've talked about it a lot on this show, and I honestly have not been too kind on it, but it's a it was a problem. When your two number nines are not putting balls in the back of the net. It's a problem. That's that's their main job. And they were both in a drought. So it was one hundred and twenty-six days. Thirteen appearances, twenty shots. That is what sat between Melissa Koesler's goal against San Diego on April twenty-fifth and Saturday night. after Saturday night. MK has six on the season. She is second on this team, and Saturday was her only multi-goal match this year. Two goals from five shots in 73 minutes. She got asked about whether the group came out with more urgency, and she pushed back on the word.

Katie: I wouldn't say eight urgency, I would just say frustration, like personal frustration. We know we you can do it better and I think finally we showed that we can do it better and yeah, I'm really happy with that.

Kate Hanson: Frustration, not urgency. She is telling you this group has known exactly what it is capable of for months and has been angry about not showing it. And when she got asked what changed this week, she pointed straight at training, the counterattacks, finding the open player, finding the open shot. That was the whole fix. And Nick got asked about the drops too. And this was my favorite thing that he said all night.

Katie: I think this is an opportunity. I think in my experience i in twenty twenty one I won the championship with New York, right? And we had Tati Castellano and our place for West Ham in in England. And He actually got the golden boot that year as a scorer. Now I'm not saying we're gonna get a golden boot winner, but there was a period in that season where he didn't score for ten games and it I said to MK, you know, like strikers go through these moments. It's the hardest part of the game scoring. And I think professional sport is just one big test. It is. It's just always questioning: are you at the level? Can you produce? Do you love it? It's meant to be difficult. I've said it before.

Kate Hanson: He won a championship in 2021 with a striker who went 10 games without scoring and finished that season winning a golden boot. He told MK that story this week. Then MK went and scored twice. Now the other number nine on our team that has been scoreless, rookie Olivia Thomas. And I want to make sure you know exactly who this is. December of 2024, College Cup final, North Carolina tied with Wake Forest, 62nd. Minute. Free kick. Liv scores it. And that goal wins the Tar Heels their 23rd national championship. Their first in 12 years. She got named Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Tournament. Next season, she led that team with 13 goals, and then she gave up her final year of eligibility to come sign here. And then she waited. She waited 17 appearances for her first professional goal. So when it came Saturday, on her only shot of the night, go back and watch her face. And then listen to her.

Katie: well I think my reaction said it all. I started crying tears of joy just because this whole team has been building me up and everyone's saying, Live, it's coming, it's coming and finally did, and I was just really happy to share it with everyone and seeing everyone so happy, making me happy.

Kate Hanson: And here's the part that got me. Janine picked somebody to give the pregame speech before every single match. And Saturday, it was from Liv. And she pulled a quote from North Carolina about resilience. So the rookie who hadn't scored gave the resilience speech, and then the team went out and scored six. You cannot make that up. I asked her in the postgame If she's now after that six one game, if she's gonna be leading all the pregame talks, and she said that she will gladly pass along the torch of giving the pregame speech. Once was enough for this season. Okay, so I want to put my reporter pat back on because I'd be doing a disservice if I just talked about all the sunshine and rainbows that we as an entire Denver Summit fan base and team felt after that 6-1 game. Chicago or last. They have 16 points, 13 goals all season, fewest in this league by a margin of eight, and 47 conceded. They are struggling. And here's the thing I have to tell you, because I spent 10 minutes on Friday on two players Mallory Swanson was out with a hip injury. Who Tema was not in the 18. And those two have six of Chicago's 13 goals between them. Forty-six percent of everything that club has scored, And neither of them suited up. I told you to watch them and circle the Highlands Ranch storyline. Episode came out before the final availability report was published. Mallory was in the building. She did sign a ton of autographs after the match, which awesome. So glad to see that she did that. one of my daughter's friends, who she plays softball with, is a huge Mallory Swanson fan. because she went to the same elementary school, middle school, and high school that Mallory went to. So she was there, she got her autograph, her mom sent me a video of her with tears of joy. Awesome that Mallory still, even though she was injured, went down to the pitch and signed autographs for some of the fans. I do have to say NWSL, they're doing it right with these players. The the players in the NWSL, I feel are the most humble professional athletes in all of sports. Anyways, I digress. back to the game. Because our expected goal Saturday was 3.37, which is good. However, we scored six. Two and a half goals above what the model said that we earned. So, no. 6-1 over the worst team in the league without two of their best attackers does not make us a playoff team. But something did happen on Saturday that I have been waiting on all season. And it's not the six schools, because that is the most scored in the NWSL all year. It's not the six goals It is the eight contributors. On Friday, I told you four players had 21 of our 25 goals 84%. This team scored by committee at volume in one night, which is the exact thing I have been saying it could not do. So thanks for proving me wrong, ladies. And the last thing, I spent an entire episode two weeks ago telling you that when Denver holds more than half of the ball, we get punished behind about 27% of the time. Saturday we had 62% of it and we conceded once. And it wasn't a ball over the top. It was a square pass in midfield. So that's one data point in the other direction that I will take. I actually did get an email from a listener this week. And I love getting emails from you guys. I love getting comments. I love getting all the things. Talk to me because I'm just sitting alone in my studio talking to you. I love hearing from you. and one of the things that The listener said was we honestly we don't know much about you, me. I don't want to talk about me during the season. I'm boring. But just because the NWSL season is going to be ending in mid-November. Gosh, it's September first already, folks. in just a few months, does not mean that the podcast is gonna stop. I'm going to be doing episodes year round. Every Tuesday, You can find me on wherever you listen to podcasts, on YouTube, you name it, I will be there giving you NWSL news, all the things, talking about the team. And I am gonna do an episode, a little bit about me, the show, what goes on behind the scenes here. Because a few of you have been listening since day one, So you know a little bit about me, but I will give an episode answering all of your questions, breaking down some of the things I say, some of the stats I talk about. If there's anything you want to know, other than like, well, Kate, you said that this you still have a full-time job. What's your day job? If there's other things you want to know about me or the show, send me your questions. Send me an email, send me a DM on Instagram, on threads, whatever. Whatever floats your boat. But I am gonna do an all about the show episode after the season wraps up. So that being said, thank you for being here every single week. It ri I really enjoy talking with you and getting to bring more about your favorite NWSL team every single week. Be sure to like, subscribe, share it with your friends because when you do that, it helps the fan base grow, it helps the listeners grow, and it helps more people become aware of the awesome NWSL team that we have right here in Denver. Okay, so I wanna talk about the table. Because before the season started I went on another podcast and I said this team was gonna finish sixth or seventh in the table. And I still believe in this roster. But we are twenty-one games in now. And I told you on Friday that I'd love to be right about sixth or seventh. But at this point I would take eighth. So let me show you what 8th actually costs. because I did the math over the weekend and some of it surprised me. On Friday, we were 12th. At the time of this recording, we are ninth. Yay! One match, three spots, twenty-seven points from twenty-one. Seattle are right above us. And they won on Sunday. They're eighth on 31. They've played 21-2. So they've got exactly nine games left, same as us. Here's what gets me. On Friday, the gap was four points. We won, six-won, and the gap today is still four points. Seattle won two. Ugh, that is how tight this is. You can put six past somebody and gain nothing on the team that you're chasing. So the math. To get to 44, which is roughly where Seattle will land at their current pace, Denver needs 17 points from nine matches. Five wins and two draws. We're averaging 1.28 a game this season. 17 from nine is almost 1.9. So we have to nearly double our own pace for the next two months, starting against the number one team in the league on Sunday. and the team I'm actually worried about is not Seattle, who's sitting in eighth place. It's Angel City. Right now they're tenth on twenty-six, one point behind us, but they've only played twenty and they have ten games left, so they have one more game than we do, and they have a better goal difference than us. So they're not chasing us, they're sitting behind us with a game in hand, and if they win that game, they're ahead of us without us even touching a ball. Except here's the part that I love. We play them twice, September 11th in Los Angeles, October 17th at Centennial. Six points head to head against the exact team standing between us and that last spot. We do not have to sit around hoping somebody else beats Angel City. We get two swings at them ourselves. And now if that didn't make you uncomfortable, here's one that I've been sitting with all weekend. Denver's home record is four wins, three losses, three draws. Fifteen points from ten home matches. On the road, twelve points from eleven. That's one and a half points a game at home and one point one away. You guys, we sell altitude. it's in the name of this show. It's in the the entire identity of this football club, the summit. come to five thousand two hundred eighty feet and try to breathe. and we have been barely better at home than we have been on the road. Five of our last nine are at Centennial. Gotham, Bay, Seattle, Angel City, Louisville. On paper, that is exactly the schedule that you'd want. But it only helps if Centennial actually starts being a problem for visiting teams, like it was on Saturday. Man, Chicago looks tired that whole match. They looked defeated the entire second half. That stadium, the twelfth man, all of you. That was a difference maker. That is my ask. That's why I keep begging you to show up. Not because it's a nice thing to do and because it's a fun evening. Because the math does not work out without us being loud and making Centennial a nightmare stadium for teams to come into. And when you look at the math, of our last nine are against teams above us: Gotham, Seattle, Kansas City, North Carolina. The other five are against teams below us. Angel City twice, Bay, Chicago, Louisville. We do not need favors. We need to beat the teams that we're supposed to beat and steal points off of two or three that we're not. And it starts right now because the schedule front-loads all of it. Four matches in 13 days, Gotham on Sunday, Los Angeles on Friday, Bay at home on the 16th, Seattle on the 19th. Two weeks from today, we will know almost everything we need to know about this season. If you're a paper calendar kind of person, circle the 19th especially. Seattle at Centennial. That is eighth place coming in to our own building. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about Sunday. Noon at Centennial, best team in this league is coming into town. Gotham are top of the table on 45 points. 13 wins, six draws, three losses. One of those losses is by the Denver Summit. anyways, here's something I don't think a lot of people have clocked. Denver has scored more goals this season than Gotham have. 31 to 27 in one fewer match. Gotham is not a juggernaut, folks. They are a wall. 14 conceded all season is the best in this league by far. But 27 scored is sixth lowest in a 16-team league. Nine of their 13 wins came by exactly one goal. Seven of those won nothing. That's how they beat you. They score once and then they suffocate you. and like I said, Denver already did this. Back in March, we went to their place and won 2 0. That is the only home defeat Gotham have taken in twelve matches this season. Only three teams have beaten them anywhere, and we are one of them. But that scouting report is five months old. And I want be careful about what I claim from it. So here's what I can tell you about what the numbers say. In March, we had fewer shots than Gotham did, fewer touches in their box, possession was 50-50. And we made 31 clearances to their nine. KK had eight. Meg Reed has six. Tosh had five. That is a game we spent defending, and we won anyway. What Nick's actual plan was that night, I don't know because I didn't ask him back in March and he hasn't said since. maybe I'll ask him this week after the practice session. But what I do know is that the numbers from that night look nothing like the numbers from Saturday. Now, who to watch out for? Esther Gonzalez has left Gotham, so she's not even on the team anymore. She was their joint top scorer with six, twenty-two percent of everything that they have scored all season, and she's not even walking back out through that door again. Rose Lavelle, U.S. women's national team member, at the time of this recording, is currently in the concussion protocol after a head injury against Angel City. She missed their last match. So right now, they might be without Rose Lavelle. Another U.S. women's national team member that they have on that team, Emily Sonnet, is out for the season. Another thing to note is that they are being run by an acting head coach. All that to say, they are still unbeaten in the last 10 games. which brings me to Jaden Shaw. Six goals, four assists, ten goal involvements, 37% of everything Gotham have scored. And nobody else on that roster is above six. You stop Jaden Shaw and their attack turns into a committee. But there's another person on the team now that we didn't have to face back in March. Yes, folks, I'm talking about Sam Kerr. And I want to give you the honest version and not the scary version. Kerr started their last six. She has three goals in 638 minutes. A goal every 213, which is actually a better rate than Shaw's 272. So the threat of Sam is real. But nine appearances and three goals is not a player who has taken over that attack. Sam Kerr is the upgrade on paper, but Jaden Shaw is still the one who decides their games. We need to plan for Shaw and with Anne Katherine Berger behind them, 60 saves against 14 conceded. scoring six goals on Sunday like we did against Chicago last Saturday. So keys to the game. I got three of them. Key number one. We press them. I know their goals against numbers says it sit deep and counter. But pressing and possession, it's been our identity all season long. And we are not gonna be changing who we are from one match. At least I don't think so. I'll ask Nick this week at practice. And honestly, Gotham are the right team to press right now. They're drawing two in a row, both low scoring, and they haven't scored more than twice since the middle of July. A team that wins by one goal is a team that drops points the second it stops scoring first. We need to make them uncomfortable early. Key number two, the fifth score has to keep going. Saturday was one night. if Yuzu and Liv and MK and Tosh go quiet again on Sunday, it's back to the Janine and Yaz show carrying everything. And Saturday was just a really fun night against Chicago. I want to see that happen twice. Key number three. Speaking of MK and Tosh, those two scored the goals in March, and those two both scored on Saturday. The two players who have already beaten Gotham are in form at the same time facing Gotham both hopefully got the monkey off their back and are ready to get back to their true goal scoring form. I said on Friday, maybe I was a little dramatic, but I said on Friday, hopefully at the clouds will part, the a the sun will shine down, and our fifth goal scorer will emerge. A lot of people stepped into that that spotlight of who could be that goal scorer. let's see who can bring it on Sunday. and keep that fifth goal scorer spot. So here's where I land. I think we take a point. I think it's low scoring. I think Centennial makes it genuinely miserable for them. And if MK gets one clean look at the goal, I think that we can take three points. But again, I don't wanna sound like a homer. I'd be happy with a draw. One point is great. I'd be happy with three. But I my prediction is a 1-1 draw. So folks, we have nine games left. five of them at Centennial. And the first one is the best team in the league at noon on Sunday. Come to that game. Seriously, come early, be loud, hang out with the Fourteeners, tailgate area beforehand. Bring somebody who's never been. If you see me, I'll be there. I always have stickers on me so you can grab a sticker And connect with me. In IRL and online, I'm on Threads, Instagram, Facebook at fifty two eighty pitch, The newsletter is at fifty two eighty pitch dot com and the shirt is in the shop. If you click on the website, go to the merch store, it'll take you over to the merch shop. And if you're on the newsletter, you get that special newsletter discount. If you signed up, you haven't seen a newsletter in a while. Check your spam. Alright, if this show is useful to you, subscribe, leave a review, and send it to one person. That is the biggest thing you can do for an independent show like this one. And it's how more people find women's soccer. 6-1. That was a lot of fun. But Sunday is the one I think we're going to be talking about in November. I'm Kate Hansen. This is the 5280 Pitch Women's Soccer at Altitude. I'll talk with you soon.