It was a historic night for Denver Summit FC on Saturday at Centennial Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 12,372. The first-year club netted six goals against the Chicago Stars in the highest-scoring game in franchise history, a 6-1 rout. It was also the most goals scored in an NWSL match this season.
The scoring started early for Denver, which improved to 7-8-6 overall, with 27 points. In the 13th minute, a low cross from Summit winger Yuzuki Yamamoto was smartly left by Summit midfielder Lindsey Heaps and smashed home by defender Janine Sonis. The goal was Sonis’ ninth of the season. The Colorado native has been dangerous in front of goal all season, and she made the Stars pay for some lackluster defending in the box.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to double their lead in the 19th minute. Heaps found space out wide and her cross to Summit forward Melissa Kössler was inch-perfect. Kössler produced a towering header over Stars defender Michelle Alozie. The goalkeeper had no chance, and Kössler’s emotion was easy to see. She finally snapped her scoring drought, netting her first goal since April 25.
The game-winning assist marked Heaps’ second since joining the Summit in July. In the 37th minute, Sonis became the 94th player in league history to reach 10,000 regular-season minutes played. It was also Sonis’ 142nd career regular-season start, putting her just eight starts away from the 150 club.
In the best NWSL season of her career, Sonis is now four goals away from passing her combined goal total from her last six seasons in the league (12).
After sustaining an injury in week 16 and missing three matches, co-captain Heaps made her return to Centennial Stadium, donning the armband and playing the first half.
Kat Asman stepped into the goal for the second week in a row, allowing just a single goal on the night.
Summit FC came out of the locker room in the second half on fire. In the 47th minute, Yamamoto played a one-two with halftime substitute Natasha Flint, which put the Japanese winger through on goal. The finish was just as good as the build-up, and Yamamoto added a second goal.
The Stars (5-16-1, 16 points) answered quickly. In the 52nd minute, a long ball beat the Summit high line. The ball fell to Stars forward Micayla Johnson, who had two bites of the cherry. Her second shot hit the post and fell straight to Stars halftime substitute Julia Grosso. She beat the offside trap and finished well.
The Stars’ momentum was short-lived. In the 56th minute, a Summit cross into the box was cleared to the foot of Flint, who took a touch to control the ball and unleashed a rocket of a left-footed shot into the back of the net.
Then, in the 58th minute, Kössler banged in her second. Yamamoto found an overlapping Ayo Oke, and a low cross was perfect for Kössler to latch onto.
“Today was just awesome,” Kössler said after the match. “I’m really happy with the result and with my goal. Everyone who scored and the team performance in general. We needed that.”
Summit FC’s final goal came in the 85th minute. Substitute striker Olivia Thomas picked up the ball in her own half and turned on the burners to blow past the Stars’ backline. She fought through contact in the penalty box to finish. Thomas’ first NWSL goal put the exclamation point on a dominant and high-scoring win for the Summit.
“The performance is down to two things. I felt like it has been coming; we’ve had so much offensive volume,” Denver Summit FC head coach Nick Cushing said after the match. “This week’s training has been really good. The intent that the players showed. We had a really honest meeting on Wednesday around where we can be better.”
It must have been an effective meeting. Denver Summit FC remains at home with Gotham FC coming to Colorado on Sunday, Sept. 6 at noon.
