In Eva Gaetino’s first foray into pregame speeches, she unknowingly played fortune teller.
Thrust into and entrusted with giving the final words of wisdom before Saturday’s match against Orlando Pride at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, she preached the importance of gaining — and more importantly, maintaining — momentum, early. Not even she could have guessed she’d be the one to answer her own plea.
But in the 11th minute, in front of another sellout crowd of 16,974, Gaetino’s first career goal was the first in a 3-1 win over Orlando. Her name will be etched in Denver sports history as a goal scorer in Summit FC’s first-ever home win.
She was the recipient of a corner kick routine straight off the training grounds. Yazmeen Ryan received a give-and-go on a short corner and sent in a ball to Melissa Kössler at the far post. She headed it to Gaetino at the 6-yard box, who volleyed it in off the post.
The celebration — a dead sprint to the bench to greet her coaching staff and teammates — was a bit unorthodox, but valid given how quickly she went from walking in a boot to scoring for the first time.
She sustained an ankle injury the day before she was supposed to feature in Summit FC’s home opener at Empower Field in front of more than 63,000. Not only did she miss out on an NWSL-record crowd, but she also couldn’t attend a national team camp in which she was slated to participate.
“For me, coming from overseas, coming here, starting for a little bit, getting injured, it hasn’t been easy by any means,” Gaetino said. “Itap so validating to know that the work I’m putting in is paying off, but I’m not going to sit here and smell the roses quite yet. I think there’s a lot more from me and from the team to come.”
Another item on her pregame checklist: “When we put our foot on their necks, we do not let up.”
Unlike the reverse fixture two months ago, Summit FC was the aggressor for essentially the entire match. That has been the difference in the past two games, both multi-goal wins, as opposed to the two matches prior, both losses after leading.
Janine Sonis provided the other two Summit FC goals, scoring a brace in her second straight match. One was from the penalty spot in the 54th minute after Yazmeen Ryan was taken down on a run toward the byline. Orlando’s Barbra Banda scored on a breakaway in the 76th minute, then Sonis responded just a minute later with a rocket to the right side netting on a rebound.
Banda’s deficit-cutting goal came just 15 minutes after Orlando’s Angelina was sent off for pulling Delanie Sheehan’s hair during a tackle, which is by default a straight red card in the NWSL.
“(It was) a little weird. I thought I forgot how to (score) for a while, but to be honest, I’m just so happy to win. Same feeling as last week,” Sonis said. “We have some really great individual performances right now, and as a team, this is the momentum we wanted to build. I have no doubt that we’re going to continue on and keep having good performances, but we know it gets harder from here.”
For Summit FC coach Nick Cushing, there was no other option than to win on Saturday night. Barring construction delays, Denver’s next home game on July 3 will be at Centennial Stadium and not DSGP, so Cushing felt obligated to send a home crowd happy. Third time was the charm.
Itap been an up-and-down season for Summit FC so far. In Cushing’s head, two dominant wins may not have been in the cards if not for losing two straight after leading.
“The tough times, the tough moments, the knocks, the best teams work through that,” Cushing said. “…I strangely like the adversity. Adversity is a terrible thing to waste.”
