Centennial, Colo – Following a disappointing loss against the Thorns, the Summit will return home in their first ever faceoff against the Chicago Stars. Against Portland, the team struggled to challenge goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold with only two shots on target. Meanwhile, Chicago has maintained its poor ownership reputation with both the general manager and head coach let go this season. Here’s three things to look for as the Summit looks to face off against the Chicago Red Stars. To keep up with the Denver Summit’s progress this season, read last week’s Key Takeaways article.
Denver Summit vs Chicago Stars
Stars’ Previous Result: 3-2 Win against Racing Louisville
Summit’s Previous Result: 1-0 Loss to Portland Thorns
When: Saturday, August 29th at 6:45 PM MT
Where: Centennial Stadium, Centennial, Colorado
TV/Streaming: Ion and The Spot on Denver3
Player Availability
The player availability reports for Denver and Chicago are especially notable.
On the Denver side, Abby Smith will not return to play. Smith was not seen practicing on Wednesday, so it’s likely that she will be unavailable for at least several games. Ally Brazier is also currently questionable for the match due to an illness. Although Brazier’s playing time has been somewhat inconsistent, recently she has clocked a lot of time on the pitch. While less key, losing out on Brazier as an option will definitely limit Cushing.
Unexpectedly, Eva Gaetino and Gemma Bonner are both definitively out for tomorrow’s match. Gaetino’s absence will result in centerback Megan Reid slotting in during her absence. Thus far, Reid has done an acceptable job when filling in for Gaetino, albeit not noteworthy. Reid has struggled to keep pace with some of the speedier forwards, but the same can also be said for Gaetino. More concerning, perhaps, will be Gemma Bonner’s absence on top of Gaetino’s. With Reid slotting in, this will leave the Summit with no true backup centerbacks in the case of any injuries sustained during the game. If push came to shove, Cushing would likely shift Sonis to centerback and bring in one of the other fullbacks to fill in on the left. Although this scenario is not extremely likely, it is something to be wary of going into the match.
On the bright side, captain Lindsay Heaps is available for the first time in four games (Heaps last played against the Legacy). Heaps’s leadership and scoring acumen could be the bump the Summit needs to start scoring more. In her three matches with the team, Heaps’s presence was evident in the matches against Portland and Washington where she created multiple opportunities. Fans will hope to see the same Heaps show up and play on Saturday.
On the opposing side, Chicago’s offense is heavily hampered by injuries. The two top scorers for the team, Jordyn Huitema (4 goals) and Mallory Swanson (2 goals), are out. Huitema has been out due to a season ending knee injury. Meanwhile, Swanson is out due to a hip injury. Swanson has been a massive part of the Stars’ offense recently, recording a goal and an assist against Racing Louisville. While fans may be disappointed to not see the USWNT star return to her home state, her inability to challenge the Summit defense will definitely be an advantage. Finally, Chicago’s leader in assists (2), Ryan Connaughton, née Gareis, is also out due to a lingering knee injury. Ultimately, Chicago’s already weak offense is further weakened by absences of their strongest offensive contributors.
Key Threats (or lack thereof)
As already mentioned, Chicago’s offense is weak. However, the team’s weakness cannot be overstated. Without Swanson or Huitema, Chicago’s next best player is likely their goalkeeper, Katie Atkinson. According to FotMob, Atkinson has an 87% save percentage. Kat Asman’s was 83% against Portland last week, and Abby Smith is at 72%. However, Atkinson is only following in Alyssa Naeher’s footsteps. It’s no surprise Atkinson has mastered her craft when she is constantly being rained on in the net.
While a solid goalkeeper is certainly important, it will be interesting to see if Chicago’s scoring woes continue or if they are able to repeat what they accomplished against Louisville. Here’s an insane stat: Chicago has not scored against a team that was not Louisville since July 5th. Every other team has shut out Chicago. To highlight why this is even more painful, Louisville ranks last in goals conceded in the league with an average of 2.0 with 43 goals conceded – Chicago is tied for an average of 2.0 but with only 41 goals conceded (more games played).
Chicago also ranks dead last for goals scored per match, with only 0.6 on average. On paper, Chicago should be an opponent the Denver Summit can easily route. However, before fans become too confident, Chicago has pulled off some upsets this year, including against Kansas City and Utah Royals. Saturday will show if Chicago’s starting lineup can step up amidst the absence of their key threats and inability to put numbers on the board.
Possession Does Not Equal Goals
Against the Portland Thorns, the Denver Summit maintained the majority of the momentum. The team sat at 63% possession and had double the number of touches in the opposition’s box. However, the team failed to score, registered only two SOG, and had a lower expected goals (xG) than Portland (1.32 to 2.68). These stats reflect the continuous inability of the team to execute on the scoreboard. Denver continues to fail to create dangerous shots on target, and after many consecutive games of the same issue, fans will look to see if Chicago can be the team where the Summit can finally get their feet under them. Sometimes, all it takes is confidence to break through a scoring drought, and if any team can offer them that boost, it might be Chicago. Depending on the outcome of Saturday’s game, the question may be, if not Chicago, then who? Cushing’s number one priority at this point in the season is getting the points to make it to playoffs, and points do not come if the team cannot score consistently.
Matt Pollard 