Summit Draw Houston Dash as Cheap Goals Cost Denver Again

Katie: But ⁓ yeah, I knew once I turned on my right and I had a little bit of time, just getting it on target ⁓ was something huge for me. So ⁓ I felt it in the moment and so I'm I'm glad that it paid off. thinking about celebrating that way for so long. It's taking me a while to score in in the home games. But ⁓ yeah, I playing for this team is honestly meant everything for me. I think coming here I immediately felt like myself. I immediately like just felt the energy with this group and and Nick as a coach like giving me the green light to just be myself as well. And ⁓ it's so easy playing with these players. And so especially the fans. I mean every game you guys like they come out and they just like Ribs great. It's good to be back in the squad, hopefully a bit more minutes next weekend and be able to contribute a little bit more than I did today. But yeah, the ribs are really good and going back on you, what you just said at the end there, I think it's just what what Yash just said, she's had a lot of touches in the box. It's just about converting them now and being a bit more confident in front of goal and I think for Melissa, it's just about, she'll get her one goal again soon and then I think it'll just take off from there. She's been working hard this week in training to continue. Yeah, when it goes in the goal, my biggest frustration tonight was we shot from 18, 20 yards too much. And that's that feel piece. It's the relationships and the cohesion and the sort of unconscious sort of rapport that you have as a great attacking team that you just put the ball in an area because you know your mate's going to be there. And when you're shooting from 18, 20 yards and you're not testing the goalkeeper in a game like this, it's sort of everything goes... But you don't want that, you want to... Yeah, I mean I think we definitely came out better. ⁓ but you know, especially with them scoring right after we did, you we can't turn off and I think we saw moments of that. ⁓ so just putting that all together, it was definitely better than KC, but but the way to be I mean, even more better is is not giving up those sex goals and ⁓ that easy. So ⁓ it's better and and we continue to build off of that. ⁓ and yeah, just make sure that we don't we don't ever shut off. Yeah, I mean it means a lot that my teammates trust me and ⁓ recognize that, you know, my abilities and what I can do. ⁓ touches, I wish I had more goals. Especially that one at the end. ⁓ but yeah, I mean I'm it the my teammates trust in me just gives me more confidence and makes me want to do even more and even better, ⁓ to continue to feed them the ball right back, ⁓ and put us in really good positions to score. So ⁓ yeah, I love when they give it to me. said that exactly that to the team is ⁓ to me the best teams are player-led, the best locker rooms are player-led and are driven within. And that's not to say that I'm not responsible, of course I'm accountable and responsible for the team as head coach, but I do feel at the moment in these moments that it's like, it's just something that's just got to click and stitch together and I'm not within the locker room so I think the players have got to... the game on moments. We knew they were going to try play in transition, try and hit us on counter-attack. That's the type of team they are and I think the first goal is too cheap. The second goal is too... Their moments all come from cheap moments and Kansas' did, right? You look at Kansas, we didn't deserve to win the Kansas game but we gifted them some moments and some goals. And I think at this level, I say to the team, every day I say to the team, it's meant to be difficult, this. Process. Has to be. The process has got us here, right? So, you know, we can think of changing the system. We we changed the the lineup tonight, right? We changed probably the biggest lineup change I've done. ⁓ gave some players some opportunity that haven't had it. it's gotta stick to the process. And I like I say, you know, I think for me to go from being a good team to a great team is about being deliberate. And it's about really taking accountability and responsibility and doing a little bit more and you know.

Kate Hanson: 26 shots, 10 on target, both club records, and both broken by three shots on Sunday night, a super hot Sunday night. Denver Summit FC out attempted, out possessed, and

Katie: working on scoring some more goals than I think we all have. So yeah, it's just about putting it into practice and putting it into the game on the weekend. give it their all and so I was so happy to be able to to score and and then to celebrate with them. They're just honestly amazing and they stick with us every time. So ⁓ it's it's really meant a lot a lot to be here. keep going so I love when the players shoot and it goes in the net from any way. This is the highest level of the game. is professional football. You can change countries. You can go to Germany or France or England. That's just your opinion that that league might be better. But this is the highest level. It's meant to be difficult. So you've got to be on your game every week because if you drop the ball down and you're out of position, they'll put the ball on the side, put it in the box and it'll be 2-2. you know, step forward and figure that one out. Because like you say, you know, I just said to Lindsay there, this game reminded me so much of the Seattle game without the poor goals. We carry the ball, we're in the box, but we just didn't create big enough opportunities. It reminded me of the Utah game, you know. And there are sort of nearly games. And I think I said to the staff, tell me if you feel this is normal for a new team. Is this meant to be like this as a new team or is... This league is crazy and any team can punish you. If you have a good game, you gotta go and look at how you have a great game. And if you've had two chances, how do you get four chances? Because like you say, right? We're in and around their box for the whole game. If I'm a number nine, or ⁓ if I'm an opposite winger, or if I'm a ten getting in the box and and I'm not getting a lot of offensive volume from their moments, I'm gonna go work at why because ⁓ I think we had some good performances tonight, but ultimately you guys know, and you guys are the ones that produce it, numbers matter. If you're a number ten.

Kate Hanson: ⁓ a Houston Dash team that hadn't won ⁓ two matches. They ⁓ the game. we still walked away a draw. Ugh.

Katie: Yeah, I said to the team, I think as a ten or a winger you've got to be around fifteen for me. To be a top team, you've got to be around fifteen at the end of the year, goals and assists, seven and eight, ten and five. And if you're not there, you're not gonna be in that sort of ⁓ elite bracket. so as a player you've got to ask yourself how you're gonna get there. Are we missing something? Do we need to do something? Do we need... And I don't necessarily think it's the senior leaders, it's everybody. Whether you're in the team, out the team, whether you're off the bench, it's the best teams I've always ⁓ won with. They've had that, just that dynamic feel in there. And that doesn't necessarily mean you've to go for sushi or go for coffee and be best friends, but as a team sport, they have that intensity and...

Kate Hanson: I'm Kate Hansen. This is the 5280 pitch, and we need to talk about the most recent Denver result of the season. Yes, we're talking that 2-2 draw ⁓ against the Houston Dash that had discussion in the 60 seconds ⁓ after the final whistle than most get all week.

Katie: We're building it. I'm impatient, right? I want it now.

Kate Hanson: Yaz Ryan scored a rocket against her former club in the 14th minute in her first home goal of all season. Janine Saunas buried the penalty kick at the end of the first half in stoppage time to give Denver a chance. We were up to one. And Denver still walked away with the draw because they gave up two nearly identical cheap goals one half each ⁓ a team that came into Denver with really nothing going for it on paper. 26 shots and two goals. That's a story about finishing. Two goals conceded from two crosses in the same part of the field is a story about marking. ⁓ And both of them for where this team ends up the standings come October. So let's get into the game that was Over on Saturday in Commer City, The final game at Dick Sporting Goods Park before we head down south to Centennial Stadium Saturday ⁓ the Portland Thorns, but before I get ahead of myself. Let's talk about what happened on Sunday because it was a scorcher. When I showed up into the parking lot, it had 101 on my car. So it was a hot, hot game. I kept honestly, I kept thinking that they might push it back or delay it, but no, no such luck. It's interesting because when I showed up, everyone I got there right at kickoff. It was a long day. My older daughter wrapped up her softball season and they had five games Sunday morning. it a scorcher being out there for all that. So I showed up right at and it was packed ⁓ on the west side of Sporting Goods. East side looked kind of empty and then as I looked around it everyone was trying to find shade. It was hot. ⁓ I kept thinking maybe, maybe they'll push it back so we could ⁓ ⁓ a little bit more ⁓ ⁓ the game, but ⁓ such luck. Because this was the final match between Denver and the summit this season. Denver walked away with the win last time we faced Houston. I thought for sure we were gonna walk away with a win today or in this game because we'd just been beaten by Kansas City 3-0 in our own stadium. And I've I felt like this was our bounce back game. Because Nick Cushing at the end of the Kansas City game called it one of the worst defeats of his coaching career. in Kansas City generated ⁓ four expected goals a Denver back line that got caught with a high defensive line and very poor marking on that day, too. A theme that we're gonna come back to. Houston came in. ⁓ 13th in the league, winless in their last two matches, having just dropped a game to the Washington Spirit. On paper, yes, this was a game that Denver was to win comfortably. Back in May, Denver hammered this same team four to one in Houston. And that was the club's first multi-assist performance of the season. Yes, Ryan set up both of Janine Saunas' goals in the franchise first brace for the co-captain. Sunday flipped the script. Literally a reversal of that first meeting. It was Sonas setting up Ryan. ⁓ The goal came in 14th minute And it's worth walking through because it's the story of Denver's whole night in miniature. Allie Brazor had back-to-back shots that n just man barely missed the target. ⁓ Denver won a corner off the pressure. Houston cleared it, only as far as Yaz Ryan who created her own space and put a rocket shot top corner. she described it. That goal was the second earliest Denver has scored all season. Three minutes behind the earliest, which was Ava Gaetino's eleventh minute goal against Orlando, and it was Ryan's third goal of the year. And Ryan was Houston's best player last ⁓ She won the Dash's golden boot newcomer of the year award last year with four goals and three assists. And when Denver got her from Houston in March, That was everything. And Sunday was her first goal against her former But Houston didn't sit on being scored on for long. One later, in the fifteenth minute, Kat Rader equalized for Houston her fifth goal of the season, The finish set up by a Linda Olmark touch of a Maggie Graham cross. It was a ball into the box that Denver simply didn't clear. ⁓ it was the first of all two almost identical defensive breakdowns on the night. Don't worry, we'll get to the second one. From there, Denver controlled the game. 57% possession on the night, 87% passing accuracy to Houston's 74. They kept Houston shotless for the first 35 minutes of the second half. Denver finished with 26 shots to Houston's nine. That is a new single match club record, beating the old mark by three. And 10 shots on target to Houston's four. Also a new club record. Also by three. Ryan alone took five shots, the most by any summit player in a single match this season, with Saunas and Ally Brazier both adding four apiece. Denver also won six corners to Houston's one and put 33 touches into Houston's box against just twelve going the other way. Denver's expected goals for the match, two point eight six. Houston's one point seven. Folks, I'm saying all this that you understand, this game should not have been a draw. This a game that the Denver Summit ⁓ should won. Statistically, everything on paper shows that was the summit's game. ⁓ We were control. But let's get to game because right before halftime, ⁓ Sonis found Ali Brazer In behind the Houston defense. Brazer got beat down her defender, got taken down, Denver had a penalty shot. Sanis, co-captain, stepped up and ⁓ buried her second penalty conversion the season, her fifth goal overall, ⁓ and it kept her from the spot this year. She is two for two on penalties in 2026, which puts her among just four NWSL players ⁓ who converted multiple penalty without a miss. ⁓ And that penalty ⁓ Denver up going halftime two to one at the break. But the Denver's lead didn't long into the second half. Linda Olmark equalized again. This time she was a scorer off of a Maggie Graham assist, and once more it traced back to a cross Denver didn't defend tightly enough. exact pattern ⁓ the first Houston goal, ⁓ ball into the box, a Denver player not tight enough, ⁓ boom, equalizer. It's worth saying this plainly because it's the single most repeatable, fixable thing in this entire match. Houston's only two goals of the night, created off of crosses from a similar area of the field, with a summit defender ⁓ their mark ⁓ times. Not different problems. One problem two times. There were zero for either team on match, So it wasn't a chippy ⁓ ⁓ It was a clean open game that Denver simply didn't finish. and Houston did have ⁓ real quieting moment of their own. Midfielder Kiki Van Zanten had a s the single highest individual expected goals figure of anyone on the field Sunday with 1.2 on the ch on a chance that never found the net. Thank goodness. Denver got a little lucky on that one. That was this was not a one-way match where Denver deserved to win by three. was genuinely an open game that could have broken a couple of different ways. Denver, we pushed all night long. In the 94th minute, Ryan nearly won it. She got the ball on the far side, created space for a clear look, and put a shot right at Houston keeper Jane Campbell, who made an incredible save. It was the kind of chance that on a different night ends this discussion entirely and turns the post-game press conference into a celebratory press conference instead of a diagnosis of what could have better. And that was the last real chance of the match. The final score of the game was 2-2, Denver's fourth draw of the season. And they're first since April 4th against Seattle. result moves Denver ⁓ four wins, ⁓ losses, four draws, ⁓ points, 11th place in the league, and moves up to four, seven, and three. One more note on the setup before we move on, because it matters for the shape this whole match. Cushing his biggest lineup change of the entire season. Megan Reed, Olivia Thomas, and Delaney Sheehan were all a part of the starting 11. Reed picked up her fifth start of the year, and Thomas got just the second start of her entire professional career. Allie Braser got the nod up top. That's not a small tweak. That is a coach responding to a 3-0 loss by changing multiple pieces at once. on the underlying numbers, ⁓ worked. The issue Sunday wasn't created chances. It was what happened when Denver ⁓ Yeah. Before we get to the players, a couple of numbers worth sitting with they tell you this wasn't just a one-off ⁓ from an expansion side that was trying to find its footing. Sunday's was great. Near sellout, Denver still holds the league highest average home attendance this season. This is a team playing meaningful soccer in front of full houses every single week, despite how hot or cold it might be in year one. And defensively, this isn't a back line without quality either. Heading into the weekend, Abby Smith led the entire NWSL in goals prevented at 6.0. Kaylee Kurtz was tied for the league lead in blocks per 90 minutes. At 1.3. also ranked third in the league in accurate long balls per match. ⁓ those are individual numbers that don't square easily with a team That's now conceded goals from across in back-to-back matches, which t which tells you something about Saturday's two goals. It was not a talent problem. They were a marking problem in specific moments, and we're we're gonna hear Nick Cushing say what happened. So put the two pictures together and you get ⁓ actual story of this Denver summit season so far. ⁓ excellent, in very important spots. Collectively figuring things out. Thirteen matches, That chemistry is is not clicking yet and it's not a knock against the summit. Every expansion team goes through this, playing like an eleventh place team and a team that's actually playing like a top half club that's getting an eleventh place in the table. So stay with Ryan for a minute. ⁓ Because Sunday was more than one goal. she Denver. She led all Denver players with shots, with five. She had the most touches in the penalty box on the night. And post game, ⁓ reporters her directly about carrying that kind of attacking load. What's the balance Denver's asking her to strike? Be the primary shot taker and the primary target and stay accountable the chances don't fall. 26 as a team and only two goals is going to raise that question every single ⁓ until it being true. There's also a thread. worth talking about here. Ryan told reporters this was her f the first time she'd scored at home all season. and it clearly meant to her beyond just the three points that ⁓ didn't materialize. Worth remembering this player is. Ryan was ⁓ Portland's overall pick back in 2021, ⁓ and has been collecting trophies ⁓ ever She has NWSL Shield with Portland, ⁓ back-to-back championships the Thorns in 2022, ⁓ and then Gotham in 2023. She has 16 with the U.S. women's national team, and she spent all 2025 as Houston's ⁓ best ⁓ player. Sunday's goal came against the team that gave her trophy a year ago. That's not a small thing to hear a player say out loud, and it's the exact kind of storyline that ⁓ should make you ⁓ that Yaz wanted to call Denver home. The other from Sunday was that Tosh was back. Yeah. ⁓ She'd been out with a rib injury and came on in the 62nd minute ⁓ for Emma Reagan. ⁓ Reporters asked her directly ⁓ how she feeling ⁓ now that she's to take the pitch Flint also talked about the mentality of coming back from injury and not playing scared, which for a team that's had its share of hard luck moments this season is really important to attention to heading down the stretch with Heapset to join the team ⁓ this One more thing from Flint worth flagging. Unprompted, she brought up Melissa Custler by name, saying Custler's due for another goal and has been putting in extra work and training this week in order to find it. entering Sunday, Custler was tied for Denver's team lead in scoring with four goals, level with Janine Saunis and Tash Flint herself, ⁓ she hadn't scored since April twenty sixth. ⁓ Better than 11 weeks without a goal. Sonis's penalty Sunday broke that three-way tie and made her Denver's new scoring leader outright with five. And Custler backed it up in real time. She came off the bench in the 63rd minute for Olivia Thomas, And in roughly thirty minutes of playing time for the match, she took four shots, tied for second most on the team, with two on target. That is efficient. That is a lively cameo from a player that Flint was talking up in the locker room afterward. Unfortunately, the golden comes Sunday, But she's putting the volume out. And that is exactly what you want to see from one of your strikers on a team. When Tosh came on, she didn't look injured, and that is a really good sign heading into a stretch where Denver is going to need every attacking body that it has. Before we get into the tactical breakdown, I want to play you Cushing's opening answer in full. post-game, we the chance to ask him directly about whether Denver's inability to close out these winnable games, is it it a coaching problem? Is it a culture problem? Is it something else? ⁓ And his was ⁓ not tactics. Yep, that is a head coach naming the exact same problem three diff three different weeks in a row. He referenced the Seattle game, the Utah game by name, both matches that Denver dominated t statistically and failed to win. explicitly asking his staff whether this is normal for a first year club. That is still finding its rhythm, or if something bigger needs to change. And notice what he didn't say. He didn't blame a system, a formation, or a single player. He put it on the group, on the relationships between the players in the final third, the instinct to know where a teammate will be without looking, the kind of thing that gets built over a full season two, not just 13 matches. Ugh, yeah. And that's genuinely interesting because it's interesting for a head coach to say it publicly. It's easier to blame, ⁓ we had the wrong formation. ⁓ it was hot. ⁓ i Cushing t chose to talk about the culture instead and he was explicit he doesn't think it's ⁓ the seniors players specifically, it's on everybody, the starters, the bench. ⁓ a team that's building an identity from scratch in year one That is something for all of us fans to watch going into the second half of the season. Does that locker room dynamic he's describing develop? And does it show up in fewer of these ⁓ the difference results? There a number ⁓ behind culture question too. ⁓ Coming into Sunday, Denver ranked dead last in the league in Duels 1. out of 16, winning barely 48% of the duels it contested. That is, that's not an attacking problem. That's exactly the kind of one-on-one win-your-individual battle number that shows up ⁓ a cross comes in and nobody steps ⁓ to win the header or track the run. ⁓ ⁓ Sunday's two goals, ⁓ they didn't out of nowhere. They came from a team that's was already the league's ⁓ worst at individual battles before this match kicked off. Cushing also got specific about the shot selection issue when reporters pressed him a little bit further. Cushing also pointed to a specific combination he wants to see more of. right side, ⁓ Ryan and Io UK have produced some of the team's best chances all year. ⁓ Cushing said, as much, unprompted. That's worth tracking too, how often Denver's chance creation runs through that right side pairing specifically and whether opponents start planning around it as the season goes on. And when a reporter asked him point blank about turning strong underlying numbers into actual points down the stretch, didn't dodge it. I love this about Nick. He will he is a straight shooter sort of guy. He he a number. He answered it and he set a number. So what does all this mean? This is my read on the Denver Summit. ⁓ The Summit are a genuinely dangerous attacking team right now. Twenty-six shots, ten on target, two point eight six expected goals that against a team that had beaten in two matches. Those are not numbers of a ⁓ bottom table club. ⁓ And Cushing is that the process producing chances, ⁓ But this is now not the ideal start to the second half of the season that we were planning on, where Denver they continue to outcreate opponents we've walked away with one ⁓ out of those two matches where we've dominated a game. At some point, the quote unquote the process is working. has to be reconciled. And the answer isn't shots from twenty plus yards. It's ⁓ the set piece marking breakdowns that gave Houston ⁓ both their goals. Cushing named himself ⁓ cheap goals crosses, from players getting caught on the wrong side of the ball. We fix that, and this team is dangerous in the way its underlying numbers are already saying that they are. Don't fix it, and Denver keeps being the team that outplays, out hustles, outworks everybody, finishes at the bottom half of the table anyway. ⁓ also say this: ⁓ the individual are further along than the record shows. ⁓ Abby Smith leading the league in goals prevented. Kurtz tied for the league in blocks, Ryan and Saunas combining for four goals and three assists against two matches with Houston alone this season. ⁓ Saunas perfect from the penalty shot. Coming into Sunday, Denverhead scored first in seven of its 12 matches this season and still lost two of those. A 29% collapse rate when they've had the league And in a league worst, Mark in won, this team creates leads loses duels. You fix the second part, the first part already works. ⁓ set the bar himself Sunday night. ⁓ goal contributions by season's end for a winger, ⁓ ⁓ a number ten. That the number that I am tracking on Ryan for the rest of the year. If she gets there, and ⁓ if stops giving up the freebies, eleventh place not where this team finishes this season. Now, Saturday's a one. And I mean literally, Denver's out of Dick Sporting Goods Park for good. we open up Centennial Stadium for the first time ⁓ ⁓ Portland Thorns, who are sitting right at the top of the table. And the headline for opening night or opening day Isn't the building. It's Lindsay Heaps. She's been unavailable since she got here at the beginning of July. She's ready now. She was in the stands on Sunday watching this one from the sidelines. And on Saturday, July 18th, the day after my birthday, when she finally makes her summit debut in front of ⁓ the home fans. Against her former team. ⁓ building, new star, and a Denver team that's generated two point eight six expected goals each ⁓ and badly needs to start turning things around. Alright, that is the show. If If you want the full breakdown, be sure to head over to the fifty-two eighty pitch.com. You can sign up for the newsletter there. You can check out the blog. You can check out all the fun merch. and if you're going to the game on Saturday at Centennial Stadium, I want to hear about it. Send me a message on any of the platforms. I'm very active over on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. And again. What better way to celebrate my birthday than a brand new stadium, Lindsay Heaps taking the pitch, and a ⁓ Denver Summit win. So, Denver Summit win it for me. be the best birthday present ever if you guys get a win at the new stadium against a very difficult Portland Thorns team. But There will be more. So I'm gonna have a full breakdown on the matchup between the Portland Thorns and the Denver Summit later this week. So be sure to subscribe to the show so you get notified when all these episodes come out. Episodes come out every Tuesday, And I try for every Friday too, but I'm I'm not as married to putting out two episodes a week as the for sure one episode a week. So every every Tuesday, you can expect to see me giving you the latest your ⁓ new women's professional team here in Denver, Denver Summit. Like, share, review, all the things. ⁓ with that, ⁓ has been the 5280 Pitch ⁓ Soccer at Altitude. We'll see you in the next episode.