On the field, Lindsey Heaps’ calling card is her ability to seemingly be multiple places at once. In the past few months, she’s had to learn to master the same skill off the pitch.
In January, she signed a pre-contract to join Denver Summit FC at the conclusion of her deal with OL Lyonnes of the French Division 1 Féminine. A few days later, Summit FC staged a heartwarming reveal to her parents, Linda and Mark Horan, that she’d be joining her hometown club in its inaugural year.
On Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, she got a preview of how her new life back home will treat her come June.
The U.S. Women’s National Team closed out a three-game friendly series against Japan, a top-five team in the world, with a 3-0 win. The USWNT went 2-1 in the series, with Heaps playing all three games. Last week, she scored in the first game of the series for her 40th international goal.
She’s played a handful of games wearing the stars and stripes in Denver now, but none of them have come with the same anticipation and excitement as this one did. She received by far the loudest ovation when the lineups were announced before the game. When she exited as a substitute in the 63rd minute, the crowd roared again. Walking off slowly to take the moment in, she thanked the nearly 18,000 in attendance — and almost 50 friends and family members, she said — with a round of applause and a heart signal with her hands.
“I’m a very sensitive person, so I get a little emotional with those things, but to see my home-state fans, my family in the crowd, friends, Denver Summit fans — seeing those jerseys, it feels actually real,” Heaps said after the match. “You don’t get that feeling until you’re here, but also walking out and getting a win the way we did as well, I’m really, really proud.”
On the field, for the last time in Colorado before she’s a full-time Summit FC member, Heaps showed why she’ll be an excellent addition to an already-solid team, beyond the name and status.
Since joining Lyonnes on loan and eventually permanently from the NWSL’s Portland Thorns in 2022, the Golden native has scored 27 goals in all competitions, helping lead the French powerhouse to four league titles, a UEFA Women’s Champions League title and a Coupe de France Féminine.
This June, she’ll leave that success for a new project and an old sense of home. But for now, essentially existing with two clubs in two countries has been a challenge. Summit FC games start anywhere between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in France, making it nearly impossible to follow along live. She said she speaks with Denver coach Nick Cushing and defender Janine Sonis often, but that can’t replicate live, in-person reps with the team.
Heaps relished what she missed last month, when Summit FC drew an NWSL-record 63,004 fans for its inaugural home match against the Washington Spirit. Through it, she can’t lose focus on whatap at hand in France.
“Itap been a little bit difficult to balance because you’re kind of two places in one. But my main focus is Lyon and finishing out the season well, which Denver has been very respectful of and I really appreciate that,” Heaps said. “But itap also me always following along and wanting the team to do well, and itap been cool to see what they’ve been able to accomplish as an expansion team and coming into the league. The hometown crowd here at Empower was absolutely incredible, and I was a little bit jealous of that.”
Listed as a midfielder, Heaps stretches the pitch like no other. She was all over the field Friday night, serving as a connective tissue in a ball-dominant setup. On a night where Japan defended open-play crosses expertly, Heaps operated in the channels and bridged the gaps between wingers and center forwards.
Before she subbed off, Heaps found the pass before the pass to set up the USWNT’s second goal of the night. Right at midfield, she could have dinked a risky ball over the top to set up a ready-to-run Rose Lavelle, but instead found winger Trinity Rodman for an easier look at the same pass. Rodman slotted it perfectly — a more controlled throughball on the ground — for Lavelle, and she did the rest.
Sonis and Natasha Flint — who ended her loan by signing a permanent contract with Summit FC on Friday — have come closest to playing that part for Denver, but there’s still much to be desired. Come June, Heaps should instantly aid the midfield in finding Melissa Kössler — whose total of three goals in five games could easily be higher — for more opportunities on goal.
But, USWNT coach Emma Hayes said, perhaps most important to Summit FC is the personality Heaps adds to any team.
“Lindsey is no passenger, ever. She’s so ultra-competitive. She will want to drive that team as a leader in the way that she does every day. She lives and breathes those behaviors,” Hayes told media members on Thursday. “We’ve sat down this week in her own 360 meetings to discuss how to get ready for (the move) and what support she needs for that. I think it will bring another level out of her and thatap what I think we’re all excited about, is that this is another challenge in her career.”
Currently, Lyonnes is more than comfortably in first place in the French league and on the way to Heaps’ fifth title in as many tries. In European competition, Lyonnes most recently beat Wolfsburg Women, 4-1 on aggregate, in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Itap not certain when exactly she’ll arrive in Denver, but the last confirmed match on Lyonnes’s schedule is May 10, when it plays Paris Saint-Germain in the Women’s French Cup final. If the team makes it to the Champions League final, that match is scheduled for May 23.
In all likelihood, Heaps’ first match with Summit FC in her home state will be a July 3 matchup with KC Current, which happens to be the inaugural match at Centennial Stadium, the Summit FC-specific home venue still under construction.
When that time comes, one place will be enough.
