Six Goals vs. Racing Louisville. Denver Summit’s Playoff Path Runs Through North Carolina.

Kate Hanson: Six. That is how many shots Racing Louisville took on Saturday night. Six shots in ninety minutes. And only one of them was on target. That's the one that went in. But here's here's the part that got me. We scored six goals. Seven including the handball. But the d we scored six goals. So Louisville took six shots and we put six in the back of the net. In the rain, in the cold, in front of a sold out centennial stadium crowd on fan appreciation night. And I know how much grief our backline has gotten this year. I've talked about it on the show, but on Saturday night, they were phenomenal. and because they were so good. We got to live in Louisville's half all night long. And now it all comes down to Sunday. One game left. We need to win at North Carolina. And we need a little help. We need Orlando to go into Seattle and beat the rain. That's it. Sounds pretty simple, but we're gonna get into it. That is the path. It's narrow, but Holy cow, it's still here, folks. I did not think that we would be sitting here at this point of the season talking about the playoffs. Welcome back to the 5280 pitch Women's Soccer Altitude. I'm Kate Hansen. Alright, so here is the game plan today. First, we're going to talk about fan appreciation night. And then we gotta talk about Kaleigh Kurtz because KK, she had a night. And you will also hear from Nick, KK, and Tosh out of the post-game press conference. Then the playoff math, which is finally simple. It's a whole lot simpler this week. And then we are going to touch on North Carolina, who we will be facing on November 1st, Decision Day, but first, real quick, last Tuesday I said for nothing because I wanted four goals, four goal difference. I also said we'd be happy again with six. Well. Thank you, Denver Summit FC. We were very happy with six goals. Louisville got one back, so it's it's only plus five on the night. But that does move us to plus twelve on the season. Seattle is plus three. North Carolina is plus nine. So out of all the playoff scenarios, Denver Summit own the gold difference now. Hold on to that folks because we are going to come back to it in the playoff math. So let's start with the game. Let's start with Saturday night, fan appreciation night. And it was not a fun night to be sitting outside. I'm gonna be real. I'm a Colorado gal. And I do not like the cold. But we were there sitting out in the cold, the cold rain, and it was still a sellout. I was a little nervous when the game kicked off because There was a lot of open seats, but there was a lot of people standing underneath the bleachers waiting for that rain to pass over, and it finally did. And when it did, those seats filled. And it was loud. The fans were having a phenomenal time. And honestly, how could they not? We scored six goals. And the players noticed. Tosh said in the post-game interviews that she is normally so locked in when she plays that she doesn't really hear anything on Saturday. She heard you guys. Here she is.

IMG 9963: speaking on both of us I think K will say the same but the fans are amazing. Like I I've never been at a team where the fans have been like this, where they show week in, week out, and we at a sellout week in, week out, and like you just said tonight, they're sitting out there in the cold and I was cold even running. It was freezing. So we we appreciate every single person that turns up to our games week in, week out, away or home. And I think they're the ones who are helping us get over the line and helping us push, and I think they're the ones who are firing us up today. I could hear them and normally I'm quite switched off when I play football, well soccer. I'm normally just in the zone and I don't really like focusing. on anything, I could hear them tonight. And it's probably like that every week, but I think I was like a little bit more listening to them and thinking what I actually did think in the game. Damn it's it's cold for me. Like you're all must be freezing and you're still here Saturday supporting us, pushing us. And yeah, I mean I've got no other words other than saying the fans in Denver are honestly amazing.

Kate Hanson: So even Tosh, who's cold running around for 90 minutes, and she's thinking about all of you sitting in the stands in the rain, screaming your heads off. I love that. And think about how this home season started. March 28th at Empower Field, 63,004 people, an NWSL record. And then we ended the home season on Saturday night with a sellout at Centennial In the cold rain, what a way to bookend the home season. And Nick was asked to compare those two nights, Empower and on Saturday. He said Empower will always be a special moment in his career. And he said the difference is that on Saturday, we won 6-1. And he still he still thinks that we should have won that first game, which Nick, yes, me too. And then he said this, and I think you're going to love it. Here he is.

IMG 9964: It's been incredible. This is a really special place and in my opinion of going around. end of NWSL this is the place to play. And if I was a player, I'd be desperate to come play here in front of these fans because not only is the atmosphere and the energy fantastic, but just the bond between fans and players is really, really special.

Kate Hanson: The place to play. And this is coming from a coach who spent five years going around the MLS before he came here. He has been in a lot of stadiums, both in the United States and in the UK. He said in that same press conference that Denver is the most special environment he has ever been in. And the numbers back that up. At Centennial this season, and I mean just centennial, not in power or dicks. We are six wins, two draws, and two losses. That's 20 out of a possible 30 points in that building. And Saturday tied our biggest win of the season, matching the 6-1 win that we had against Chicago back in August. One more thing before we move on, and this one is fun. Those six goals took us to 53 goals on the season. That is the most in the league this year. Yes, our inaugural season with the Denver Summit through all the ups and downs, sitting here in 10th place. We have the most goals in the league this year. We passed North Carolina to get there. And the club also says 53 ties us for the third most goals in a single season in NWSL history. I think there's been a lot of ups and downs this year. And there's been times where we've been waiting for the goals to happen. We all remember the drought that happened after that June break. Man, just imagine where we would be sitting if we wouldn't have had that goal scoring drought in July. So to everybody who sat out there in the rain on Saturday, thank you. The players felt it and they told us so. So let's talk about the game a little bit. I want to start with the back line. as much grief as they've gotten this year, including from yours truly, they were phenomenal on Saturday. And I want to start there before I get to KK because her night doesn't happen without the whole group. So Louisville had six shots, one on target, and they had 11 touches in our box all night. We had forty-eight touches in theirs. In the first half, we outshot them nine to one. And we had almost sixty percent of the ball possession on the night. That was our highest possession in any half all season. and that's what I keep coming back to, when the back line is that clean, everything else opens up. We completed 415 of our 475 passes. I did the math for you all. That's 87.4%. Louisville was at 82.9. We kept the ball, we kept them pinned in their own half, and Abby only had to deal with one shot on target the whole night. And we had two rookies starting. It was a different lineup. When I saw the lineup, I was like, ooh. This is interesting. No Io Okay, no Emma Reagan? What's going on here? Yeah, Natalie Means and Devin Lynch both got the start on one of the most important games of the season. I asked him about that in the postgame press conference, And Nick said that their attitude and application are 10 out of 10, and that every time players play well, it just makes his job harder because now he has to pick a good team for Sunday. That is a great problem to have. And our rookies played awesome. Natalie set up Lindsay for our fourth goal on Saturday. I think it speaks volumes for all the young players that are listening to the show. when you're a rookie and you're getting called to step in and play on the most important game of the season, that's not just a one practice that they had that was good. They showed up every single day for every single practice with a positive attitude, willing to learn, check their ego at the door, and go out and put in the work. on to KK. And if you're newer to the show, Kaleigh Kurtz did come onto the 5280 pitch earlier this year, so you gotta go back and listen to that episode after you're done with this one because Kaleigh is an awesome human, and I'm so glad. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll get to it. So KK spent eight seasons with the North Carolina Courage before she came to Denver. She won two NWSL championships there. As we all are aware, she is the Iron Woman of this team and leading the league with numbers for a field position player. She has started all of our 29 games this season and she's played the full 90 in every single one of them. But before Saturday, She had zero goals and zero assists this season, which for center back is common. I we have seen Eva Gaetino score a goal. Most of the time, center backs are gonna score off of a set piece, which is exactly how KK scored. so in the first half stoppage time, we had a free kick. And who else is gonna take the free kick other than our co-captain Janine Sonis She whips in the free kick and KK heads it in, makes it 2-0 right before halftime. Again, that is KK's first goal in a summit shirt And it is her first goal anywhere since April of 2025. Nick said that KK has had, quote, such a desire to score from a set play all year. So it finally came at home in front of all of you. And then the celebration. If you were there, you saw it. If you're watching on YouTube, I'm gonna play it. Because KK and Meg Reed did the worm in the rain. And I'm so glad that we got to see a little bit of KK's personality come out on the pitch because she's a hard worker sometimes even in her episode when she she and I sat down, she said, sometimes people think that I'm a little bit hard, of a hard player. I I'm pretty serious. But you got to see Kaylee's fun personality come out in that goal celebration. Here's KK on where that goal celebration came from.

IMG 9963: We talked about it eight months ago when we were still training in Infinity Park. So it has been in the works for a while. However, it scoring a goal has been in the works for a little while for me. So I finally got it and then she didn't think that I would remember eight months later, but I did. she was also going to be a part of it and 'cause all three of us can do the worm and so she was gonna be a part of it, but I don't think she wanted to get wet from the the the grass. So she was like, You guys do your thing. So yeah. She's just the ultimate hype woman, always.

Kate Hanson: I love that Allie Brazier was supposed to be a part of it and of course bailed because, she didn't want to get too wet. Allie, I don't blame you. It was really wet out there. People were sliding all over the pitch in that first half. I don't blame you. back to the goal, because the goal was a highlight, but in the 59th minute, KK hits this long ball through to Yaz. Yaz outruns the Louisville defenders and she centers it to MK. MK finishes it 3-0. Yaz gets the assist on the stat sheet, and she should. But that goal starts with KK, and it wasn't luck. KK told us exactly what she saw happening in the first half, and she and Yaz talked about it at halftime. Here she is.

IMG 9963: I talked to Yaz at halftime and just asked her if the long diagonal ball was on. and she was like, yeah, especially when you're a little higher up on the pitch, I think they kinda turn off or their their defenders start to shift really early to try and get pressure on, so the gap between their outside back and their center back got big and I was like, here's my opening and it actually hit my foot well and went in the way I wanted it to

Kate Hanson: the the thing that I really appreciated from this whole play is that they they talked about it at halftime. They saw that this was not a possibility. and KK saw the gap happen. pretty quickly after halftime. that's a center back reading the game, talking to her teammates, and then going out and doing it. I love that so much. And it was such a beautiful long ball. Again, it's not like hockey where you get the secondary assists added on to the stat sheet. But I will remember that assist from Kaleigh for a long time because that was a very difficult play. That we really haven't seen happen a lot from the Denver Summit. We've seen it happen against us a few times, but we really haven't seen the summit execute a play like that. And man, was it executed perfectly. Now, Font Mob rated KK an 8.07 on Saturday. That was her highest Font Mob rating the season. Her next best was 7.7 in the 0-0 game back at Seattle back in April. I'm not gonna call it her best defensive game because honestly Louisville just didn't give her much to defend. We were so dominant in this game. That she was allowed to show some of her offensive skills. I have talked about this before on previous episodes. Just cause the season's gonna be ending soon-ish. Soon-ish, depending on playoffs. Doesn't mean these episodes are gonna stop. We're gonna continue talking every single Tuesday about NWSL, Denver Summit, all your questions. I was actually in Arizona with my daughter's soccer team a few weeks ago and I was talking to one of the other parents and explaining how player rankings work. And I think a lot of people don't understand how the player rankings work, where to look at those. we've talked about expected goals, we've talked about a lot of things on the show, but there's a lot of things that happen and that are said in the game of soccer that I think a lot of people might not understand. So we are gonna have episodes kind of explaining what a what a player ranking is how the numbers come to those rankings. So don't go anywhere when the season's over. Make sure that you're subscribed. In fact, do that now on your p podcast player. subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode. Subscribe on YouTube because the fun doesn't end when the Denver Summit season ends. Alright. Let's go back to the game on Saturday with KK because again, she got to score, she got to assist on a goal, she completed 70 of her 75 passes, and she did the worm in the rain. And on Sunday, she goes back to North Carolina where she played for eight seasons. In probably one of the biggest games of this season. We thought that last Saturday was important, folks. That means nothing on Sunday. One more thing before we move on, because six goals means a lot of people had big nights. Tosh had the brace, and that is the first brace of her NWSL career. She has eight goals on the season, tied with MK for second on the team. MK scored for the second game in a row, and Yaz scored our sixth. Her first since september sixth, as I said earlier, Lindsay Heaps had that header goal with a beautiful cross from Natalie Means. Janine had two assists on the night, which is a first in her NWSL career, And that gets her up to 20 goal contributions this season. Third in the league. Yeah, from our left back. Fotmob had her player ranking at 9.03. Best on the field. Again, I've said this before. Janine Sonis should be in every single MVP conversation out there. Unfortunately, I do think that Ashley Sanchez is going to get the MVP because of all the goals that she scored. We'll get to Ashley Sanchez in a minute. I think it's it's really hard to not pay attention to the season that Janine is having. Because it is truly special. And you can tell the pride that Janine has every time that she puts on that Denver summit kit. And Lindsay, as I said, she had another header goal. That was her fifth goal in her last four games, or an assist in seventh straight. In her first five games in a summit shirt, she didn't score once. So Lindsay has found her footing with this team at exactly the right time. Now, I talked a lot last week about this team not being able to hold a lead. Remember, key number one last week was to survive 15 minutes after anything happens. So how do we do? Louisville scored finally, I guess. I really wanted that clean cheap for Abby, but Louisville scored in the 79th minute to make it 5'1. And two minutes later, it wasn't boring. No, no, no. I'm fine with this type of thing happening after a score. Yes, two minutes later, Yaz scored to make it six-one. That is exactly what I wanted to see. They scored and we came back and answered right away. And Nick was really honest when he got asked about the two goal leads. He said he wants to keep challenging this group on them. And then he said, I think I think I need another season. He's not pretending that it's fixed. But on Saturday, two nothing turned into six-one. And I will take that all day. One final thing. on that game before we move on to decision day. the Fourteeners, the crowd underneath the press box were shouting something that made me smile. Took me back to my days when I was working in TV for the Rockies, and they were all shouting, We want tacos. And for all of you Or have been in Colorado for a long time, you know what that means whenever the Rockies scored seven runs. You got tacos at Taco Bell. So Denver Summit I think maybe you could go to Taco Bell and maybe we could get that going again for the Denver Summit for next year because the way that this team scores, when they're when this team is on, seven goals is very possible. So how fun to everyone that was shouting we want tacos. I heard you. I don't know if everyone understood what you were chanting. I understood it and I thought it was amazing. So kudos to you. Whoever started the We Want Tacos chant Let's talk about the playoffs. Because the math got simpler this week. Remember that entire segment last week where I was like, well, if this happens, then this happens, if this happens. It's super easy now. There's one playoff spot left. All the top seven have been are in the playoffs. Seeds one through seven. We don't know exactly who's seeded where just yet. A lot of stuff is still being figured out for those seven teams, but eighth place is still up for grabs between three teams. Denver Summit being one of them. So right now, Seattle is eighth with 44 points, plus a three goal difference. North Carolina is ninth with 42 points, and plus nine goal difference. And then we're 10th with 41. We have plus 12. Whoop whoop. All three teams have played 29 games. If you haven't checked out the playoff tracker after this episode, go on over there. I'll link it in the show notes. 5280pitch.com playoff tracker. You can see what needs to happen. So every game on Sunday kicks off at 3 p.m. Mountain Time. Head on down to a watch party so that we you can watch all three games at one time. And it was just announced that ESPN is going to be carrying all the games on their ESPN Plus network. You can watch every single game on Decision Day and find out what's happening with who at what time. The 14ers, speaking of which, they will be listing out, I'm sure, if you're not a part of the 14ers yet, join the 14ers, join their Discord, they will be sharing where you can watch all the games, but find a local place where you can watch all these games we are at North Carolina. Yes, the team right above us, and Seattle is at home against Orlando. Here is what needs to happen. Number one, we have to win. We cannot draw. We have to win. Number two. Seattle has to lose. And that's it. That's the only way. If Seattle draws, they get to 45. And the most we can get is 44. If Seattle wins, they're in. no matter what North Carolina does. If Seattle wins, they're in. But if we win and Seattle loses, we're both sitting at 44 points. And the first tiebreaker is goal difference. We'd be at plus 13 or better, and Seattle would be at plus two or worse. So we would get that eighth spot. Remember when I said to hold on to that goal difference earlier? Well, that's why. Those six goals on Saturday were not just fun. They locked up the tiebreaker for us. A draw for North Carolina doesn't help them. They need this game too. Nobody Seattle, North Carolina, and Denver Summit is playing for a tie on Sunday. All three of those teams want to win. Now, Orlando has already been eliminated, so they're just playing for Pride in Seattle. I know that's not ideal, But I'll tell you who is all in on Orlando this week. KK said after the game that this team is going to be rooting for the Orlando Pride quote more than anything else in the world. Same KK, same. 14ers listening. maybe we should start sending gift baskets to the Orlando Pride players. Denver Summit fans, head over to the Pride Players socials. Wish them good luck. I mean, do whatever you can to encourage the Orlando Pride to do whatever they can to win this game. The short version folks, we win and we root for Orlando. If this team plays like they know how to play, we can win this game. We just scored six. the most goals of the league. We can't control Seattle. We can't control what they do. But we can control how we show up on Sunday. And Nick sounds like a coach who knows exactly where the pressure is. Here he is.

IMG 9964: You've got North Carolina that were all the way up there and are now out of the line. And you've got Seattle that probably should be there consistently. And then you've got Denver Summit that's having a year where we're just attacking everything, right? So we're going to go there with a huge desire to win. But I definitely think that all of the pressure is on them. think we've achieved what we said we would achieve in the sense of putting a foundation and of being an attacking team. Of course, there's lots of areas we have to fix. I'm really proud of the mentality and the progressive environment that we've created here in the sense of taking the criticism and absorbing the challenges and... moving forwards and trying to improve. got another opportunity next week, right? Maybe it's because of the win, I've got a good feeling. I've got a good feeling.

Kate Hanson: So what he's saying is North Carolina was all the way up at the top of the table and fell out. Seattle probably should be in the playoffs every year. And then there's us. The new kids on the block. The team that's been attacking everything all season. All the pressure is on those two teams. Let's actually talk about North Carolina. Sunday at three o'clock mountain, like I said, that's when all these important games kick off. And I said that we're gonna talk about this later when I was talking about Janine. Yep, we're gonna talk about Ashley Sanchez. That's the thing that worries me. Ashley Sanchez beating our back line. So Sanchez has twenty goals this season. That ties the NWSL single season record, which Temua Chuwinga set back in 2024. Sanchez has been called back up to the US women's national team because of this incredible season that she's had. Sanchez is playing the best soccer of her life right now. However, Sanchez tied that scoring record back on September twenty-seventh against Utah on a penalty shot. She hasn't scored since. So she's had three games with no goals. So Sunday is her last shot in the regular season at goal number twenty-one. At home, in front of her own crowd. I mean, she's gotta be motivated, right? So I think that that's gonna be really hard for the Denver Summit. We're going up against the top scorer in the league, feeling extra motivated in this final game. She has 20 of North Carolina's 51 goals. So that's almost 40% of the goals from one player. Their coach, Mac Glynn, moved her out to the wing this year, and she is the first American to score 20 goals in a regular season. So, yes, they have the top scorer in the league. But we're the team with the most goals in the league. We have 53. They have 51. Here is my worry, though, and I want you to hear Our high press has been one of our biggest strengths this year. It's also been one of our biggest weaknesses. When we press high and it doesn't work, there's space behind us. And Sanchez lives in that space. When she broke North Carolina's single season club record scoring record this year, it was off a long ball from her own keeper. How many times has that happened to the Denver Summit this year? Yes, more than once. Sanchez ran it down, outran three Angel City defenders. That is the goal that I'm scared of happening on Sunday. We cannot leave Abby out to dry. Abby needs to have a great game. She's one of the top five goalies in the league this year. And I believe that she can. But that starts with the back line not getting beat over the top. And then there's that 15 minutes. We have to stay strong for 15 minutes after anything happens again. and the numbers back that up. North Carolina has scored 25 of their 51 goals after the hour mark. And our own soft spot is the end of the very first half. From the 31st minute to halftime, we've given up 12 goals this season, the most of any 15-minute stretch for us. Now, here's the good news. In the first 30 minutes this season, we've scored 15 goals and given up four. And North Carolina gives up almost 60% of their goals in the first half. They've given up 25 of their 42 goals in that first half. So the numbers are saying a lot of things for us. the first goal when North Carolina plays, the first goal decides their games. When North Carolina scores first, they are twelve wins, no draws, and one loss. When they give up the first goal, they are one win, two draws, and twelve losses. That's a big difference, right? And when we score first, we're ten wins, three draws, and four losses. When you put that together, we start fast, they are leaky early, and then they almost never come back. We also have to be smart in our own box. We've given up seven penalties this season, and North Carolina is five for five from the spot. And the first time that we played them, things turned around on a penalty. That was our two-nothing loss back in August. That penalty and a late Allie Schlegel goal. And Schlegel just came back from the injury list, unfortunately. But that was a different Denver Summit team. Lindsay was a late scratch that night with the swelling in her leg. Remember, we were all surprised. I remember taking a picture of the available active roster and Lindsay's name was scratched out on it. I've never seen that before. Sunday what is the first time that Lindsay plays the North Carolina Courage in a summit uniform and you all know what she's been doing lately. there is actually there is one note on our side that I've been thinking about. So Carson Pickett was listed as available for selection for the first time in fifty six days. But she was not added to the active roster, and she wasn't on the bench on Saturday. being listed as available is a good sign. But, and this is just me speaking, I don't think that we are going to see Carson again this season. She's been mostly absent from the team since her run for the Lauren Holiday Impact Award. As you guys all remember, she was our nominee for that one for her work with Hand Camp Colorado. And she was in the top five of the fan vote back in August. And she is listed as a Denver Summit representative for the skills competition for the NWSL. Look, I don't know the backstory on why she isn't playing. What I do know is that Carson Pickett is an awesome person, and I'm so thankful that she came on the show earlier this year. I'm so thankful that she's been a part. heart of the Denver Summit in our inaugural year. I wish we could see more of her. To quote one of my favorite characters, Lloyd Christmas, I think it's a one of those one in a million chances that we see her on the field before the end of the season, sadly. But I do wish her the best. She's a great human being. And hopefully we do get to see her on the pitch again someday soon. And as soon as Sunday's availability report comes out, I'll post them on Instagram and threads. what should we look for? Let's talk about the keys to the game. So my key number one, We cannot leave Abby out to dry. Win the long balls, don't get beat over the top, and no fouls on Sanchez anywhere near our box. Key number two, same as last week. Survive 15 minutes after anything happens. After we score, after they score, and right before halftime, because that's where we've leaked all season. Key number three. We gotta come out and score first. And and not just one. Let's score a couple goals. If we get the first goal, North Carolina almost never comes back. They only have one win all season when that happens, folks. Here's my call. I think we win this game. I think that the team is clicking at the right time. They're feeling confident. They are ready to go out and be in the playoffs their inaugural year. And I think they know it's now or never. If this team plays the way that they know how to play, I think that we win this game. I'm going to say my prediction is two zero. I think that we step up, Abby gets a clean sheet, Our back line is a force, a wall, nobody can get past them. And I think we get two early goals and I think it gets boring, which is fine by me. I'm totally fine with boring. Let's get two goals and protect. So I'm saying two nothing for the Denver Summit to win and do as much as we can for our own playoff destiny. Here's what I believe. I a lot a lot has to happen on Sunday and we can only control half of it. But this team just scored six goals in the rain. We have the most goals in the league and we own the tiebreaker. Wear your summit gear. Well, you should be wearing it all week because this is a very important game. Make sure everyone knows to tune in to ESPN to watch the summit. Take on the courage. Go to one of those watch parties with the 14ers. It is always more fun to watch with friends. And you're gonna want to be watching Seattle. because we need Orlando folks. In fact, I think all of you should go and find someone on the Orlando Pride to go follow and send a good luck message to. Tell them that we are cheering them on and that they should win this game. And that everyone in Denver is cheering on Orlando. I think everyone should be doing that. And 14ers, if you're listening, please send them a gift basket or something. If you liked this episode, please hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with somebody. That is the biggest thing that you can do for an independent show just like this. And it's how more people find women's soccer. Make sure you're following on Instagram, threads, Facebook at 5280Pitch, And as we head into the cold season, be rocking your Denver Summit 50 to 80 Pitch merch, whether it is the supporters hat like I'm wearing right now, or if you want to check out, I've just dropped a whole bunch of new sweatshirts and long sleeves in the shop, head over to fifty to eightypitch.com to check out all of the merch there. I'm Kate Hansen. This is the 5280 Pitch Women's Soccer at Altitude. I'll talk with you soon.