Abby Smith knows no almosts.
The Denver Summit FC goalie played in the U.S. Women’s National Team’s youth system and got called up to the senior squad multiple times, but never earned a cap. She was on two National Women’s Soccer League title teams, but not as a starter — once with the Portland Thorns as a backup, and once with Gotham FC while injured in the playoffs.
And speaking of injuries, Smith has had two significant ones. A knee injury ended her promising rookie season with the Boston Breakers in 2016 and affected her in ’17, too, and then ankle surgery in 2023 sidelined her as Gotham FC made a run to the title.
But Smith, now in her 11th year as a pro after insists she isn’t grading her career through a cracked rearview. Her play has been a highlight of Summit FC’s first three games heading into the inaugural home opener on Saturday at Empower Field, where the club is expected to shatter the attendance record for a professional women’s sporting event.
“If I can show up and be my best self every single day and keep performing, then the almosts are just something far, far off,” Smith said. “… It’s no different than any other regular person that can have an almost like, ‘I almost got that job. I almost got that promotion.’
“That would suck, to be honest, to focus on the almost. I’d rather just focus on the fact that I’m blessed to be able to be playing for 11 years.”
Smith has certainly been her best self so far for Summit FC.
In the franchise’s inaugural game on March 14 in San Jose, a flurry of impressive saves kept Denver in it until the final whistle, despite the club playing a woman down for most of the match after Janine Sonis was sent off in the 26th minute. Bay FC dominated time of possession, chances and shots in the 2-1 win, but Smith never unraveled.
That trend continued as Summit FC progressed along in its first road trip. In a 1-1 draw in Orlando on March 20, Smith made 10 saves, several of them highlight. The only crack came when the Pride netted an equalizer in the 61st minute off a header from the weak side of the net. And on Wednesday against Gotham FC in New Jersey, Smith turned in the first clean sheet in club history as Denver notched its first-ever win over the defending NWSL champions.
During the road trip, Smith becoming only the 13th keeper in league history to reach that milestone.
She accomplished that feat with heat on her on the Denver depth chart, as Summit FC head coach Nick Cushing says — the goalie for the French national team — “is also training incredibly well because she wants the shirt.” Former Grandview and CU star Jordan Nytes, an NWSL rookie, is the third-string.
Turning adversity into fuel
Amid that competition, Cushing believes Smith’s winding road to Denver is “the recipe for success… and I think (her story) is the reason why we’re getting the goalkeeper that we’re getting.”
“I had a really honest conversation with Abby when we recruited her and a really honest conversation on day one of preseason that we didn’t have Pauline in for the first (stretch) of the preseason because her deal was still being done with Juventus,” Cushing said. “So Abby had the shirt and I said to her, ‘You’ll have the shirt for as long as you can keep it, but Pauline has come in and she’s hungry to play.’
“And now Abby has to use all of those situations (to drive her). It’s about mentality. Your mentality grows through those moments. You absorb the difficult moments, and if you really believe you can be a starting goalkeeper who can play consistently like (Smith) did against Orlando, you’ve got to use all of those moments as fuel.”
Cushing hinted on Monday that there’s “probably an opportunity to rotate this week in the sense of Pauline and Abby because it’s three games (in eight days),” so Peyraud‑Magnin could get the start on Saturday at Empower Field. But Cushing also added that “there’s zero chance I take Abby out of the (lineup)” following her strong performance in Orlando, which she then replicated in New Jersey, where she made four saves against Gotham FC.
Adding firepower
While Cushing clearly has confidence in two keepers, early returns also indicate the offense needs a jolt as well as more time to gel. Denver, which has had three of its four goals scored by Melissa Kössler, hopes it got a boost last week from two separate transactions.
On March 18, Summit FC announced the signing of who was the 2024-25 WE League MVP. The next day, the club acquired forward Yazmeen Ryan and midfielder Delanie Sheehan from the Houston Dash in exchange for allocation and transfer fee funds, plus a conditional sell-on fee tied to future player movement.
Ryan debuted for Denver against Orlando, and Sheehan debuted for Denver against Gotham FC. Yamamoto, coming off the recent conclusion of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, hasn’t suited up yet. While Denver added those players, Summit FC also lost rookie midfielder Jasmine Aikey to a season-ending ACL injury she sustained before the season opener while on international duty.
Cushing hopes the boost in scoring potential from the two deals last week can take pressure off the defense, considering the offense only mustered three shots on goal through the first two matches before showing more cohesion in the win over Gotham FC.
“It gives us more threat offensively, but also experience in our midfield,” Cushing said. “(The Yamamoto deal) was in the pipeline for a bit of time. The trade with Houston came from nowhere and was one that we were keen to do.
“We can’t rely on our goalkeeper to save us in games. But at the same time, we have to be realistic as an expansion team that that was a critical piece of the build… (whether with Smith or Peyraud‑Magnin), you’ve got to give yourself a chance to get points in those games maybe where you potentially can lose.”
Saturday’s game at Empower Field kicks off at noon and will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+. Denver’s next couple of home games after that will be at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, starting with San Diego Wave FC on April 25.
