Evanston, Ill. – Sunday afternoon. An afternoon kickoff with a small crowd at the unconventional Martin Stadium on the campus of Northwestern University. Last place Chicago Stars, already eliminated from making the NWSL playoffs, vs playoff hopefuls Denver Summit. This game was must-win for Summit and a potential banana skin.
Head Coach Nick Cushing’s lineup was as expected. Star left back Janine Sonis started. Quadmeg Emma Regan was in midfield next to Delanie Sheehan. Yuzuki Yamamoto kept her spot in the attach as Tash Flint played in front of captain Lindsey Heaps.
Mallory Swanson, who missed the reverse fixture a few weeks ago was well enough to start up top in a 4-4-2.
Summit were the protagonists throughout the match. Both teams had their moments off of turnovers. Denver created chances building out of the back and in transition.
Sonis opened the scoring with an audacious goal just eight minutes in. She chased down a ball from Regan and decided to just go for goal. The ball curved over goalkeeper Katie Atkinson and into the far side netting. Summit goalkeeper Abby Smith joked postgame she’s seen Sonis try stuff like that in training.
Heaps got her first of the afternoon in the 26th minute. Yamamoto dribbled forward into space and found Sonis making a supporting run. Sonis just put the ball to the front of goal. Heaps crashed the box and got a touch to it, sliding to the ground, beating the keeper. It was 0-2 at halftime.
Chicago didn’t do much before the second goal. Swanson had a shout for a penalty in the first half but went down easy. Stars had a few looks with a short cross knocked down for chances. Chicago’s best chance of the game was probably a sequence like that in the 57th. Smith made the save on Swanson.
Heaps put the match away in the 76th. In transition, she got the ball from Yaz Ryan. Her first shot was deflected and she put the rebound in. Substitute Melissa Kössler made a good run to divert the defense.
Summit could have made it more to be fair. Heaps had a chance late in the first half at the near post that could have made it a hat trick. Ryan set up Tash Flint for a shot that she shanked. They had plenty of looks once Chicago had more of the ball in the final 20.
The match ended 0-3. Summit have now set an NWSL expansion record with 45 goals in 27 games with 20 in their last seven.
Fifth clean sheet of the season! And on Smith’s birthday!
Defensively, Summit needed this shutout. Abby Smith’s 33rd birthday. First clean sheet since September 6. Second since the World Cup. They controlled the game. Chicago wasn’t able to do anything. Summit’s work in midfield caused that.
“The win and a clean sheet is honestly a great birthday gift!” Smith said with a smile.
“Our back line did a really good job with making sure we didn’t have any crazy situations. We defended really well as a team. There was a lot of composure. Us having the ball for most of the game helps tremendously. It makes a big difference when we can make the play pretty predictable.”
“The clean sheet is HUGE for us. We’ve had a lot of games where we were really striving for that, and it looked like we were going to get it, but we didn’t quite lock it down to the 90th minute. It was really nice to do that today,” added Regan.
If they want to make the playoffs and be a threat in the playoffs, they need to be hard to play against. It has to be hard to score goals against them. They need to do this more often.
Playing their game, being the best version of themselves:
“Two things I asked for today was high energy, because we knew that this is almost a potential slip up, and dominate the moments they try and catch us, or turnover the ball over to create goal chances. It was a really sold performance from everybody today,” Cushing told Burgundy Wave.
“Possession is about processing the ball into the final third. Thought we did that much better in the second half and in the moments we created those chances.”
Chicago are the worst team in the league. But confidence has been a big part of Denver’s season. When they see themselves play well and get a result, it galvanizes them. They did what they wanted to on the ball. They had joy in transition. They made no mistakes to give up good looks. It showed on the scoreboard.
What’s next: International window and playoff chase.
Summit are in 10th, four points below the playoff line. They have three games left. Saturday September 17 vs Angel City. Saturday October 24 vs Louisville City. Sunday November 1 at North Carolina. Playoff six-pointer, the second worst team in the league, then playoff six pointer. Two wins and a draw could do it. But Summit don’t have time for scoreboard watching.
“It makes a massive difference of us, to be honest, when we just focus on ourselves,” Smith said.
Before that, it is the international window for the women. Six Denver players are off on international duty. Heaps is with the USWNT for a pair of friendlies against Spain. Sonis and Regan are with Canada for friendlies against Denmark. Yamamoto is with Japan for games against Haiti and Germany. Kössler is with Germany for that Japan game and also Australia. Lastly, Ayo Oke is with the USWNT for games against the Dominican Republic.
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Eamon Shaw 
Katherine Ammon 