Denver Summit FC’s playoff chances took a big hit on Saturday in a 4-1 loss to Kansas City Current. It was a must-win game for the Summit to catch up to the Current, who hold the NWSL’s last playoff spot. With the loss, Denver must help itself by playing the rest of the way flawlessly while needing help from other teams to make the playoffs.
“First 30 minutes, I thought we controlled the game,” Denver Summit head coach Nick Cushing said after the match. “Kept the game compact, kept the game short. With the ball, had coverage all over the pitch, blocking transition runs, making sure we had cover in behind. In the last fifteen minutes, we were in the spin dryer. One moment turns it into 2-1, 3-1.”
Denver struck first with a goal in the 13th minute. A ball out wide from Lindsey Heaps was intercepted by Current defender Elizabeth Ball. The interception fell to Summit midfielder Delanie Sheehan, who tried to find a Summit attacker in the box. The pass bounced off a few players and fell to Heaps in the box. She took her time and found the back of the net.
Thatap where the good news ended for the Summit, but not before goalkeeper Abby Smith bailed her teammates out in the 35th minute. Ayo Oke was judged to have committed a foul on Current attacker Temwa Chawinga in the Summit penalty area. The call was controversial, but the save was not. Chawinga went low on the ensuing penalty kick, and Smith met it to keep Denver in the lead.
That lead would not last long, as Kansas City equalized in the 39th minute. Denver was caught sleeping on a ball over the top. Current winger Michelle Cooper latched on. Her low cross found the foot of Current striker Haley Hopkins, who found the back of the net. Denver was caught with another ball over its defensive line, but this time the Summit line wasn’t even high up the field. Just a lapse of concentration from the Summit backline.
It would continue to get worse in the 47th minute. A long ball behind the Summit backline caught Smith in a bad spot, and for all her heroics in the first half, it was her turn to make a mistake. Her clearance was poor, and the ball fell right to Hopkins. With no one in the net, Hopkins made the long-range finish easily. Just minutes after the second half started, Denver was in a hole it would have to dig itself out of.
The hole only got bigger in the 57th minute. Chawinga was one-on-one with a Summit defender bearing in on goal. With tons of space, Chawinga made the unselfish pass to Hopkins across the box. Hopkins was the beneficiary of another easy finish. It was a hat trick for the attacker, who took less than 20 minutes to seriously hurt Summitap playoff chances.
In the 76th minute, Chawinga made it 4-1, before the offside flag came up to deny her goal. VAR told the referee to look at it again, and after video review, it was deemed that Chawinga was onside. The bad got worse, and the worse got even worse for the Summit.
This game was a tough matchup for Denver, which loves to play with a high backline, whileKansas City loves to exploit the space behind it. Cushing was never going to change his team’s identity, even if it would’ve been a better situation for the Summit.
“We were OKin patches,” Cushing said. “We played the game plan in patches. Outside of that, you can see their strength in transition. You see the pace and power Chawinga has and the problems that she can cause.”
Denver remains in 10th place, but is now four points behind that last playoff spot. Angel City, in that spot, also has a game in hand over the Summit. The two teams play each other in October. Angel City is the team to watch for Denver. The North Carolina Courage are also a team to watch. They sit in ninth and have the same points and games played as Angel City. The Courage and Summit will face off in the regular-season finale for both teams. Itap crunch time for Denver, which now faces must-win games for the rest of the year.
“Looking at the table, we now have to win out,” Cushing said.
This loss also snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for the Summit, which included two games in which they lost a two-goal lead. The points dropped in those two games look crucial at this stage of the season.
It was always going to be an uphill climb for the Summit to make the playoffs in their first year. The other expansion side, Boston Legacy, is already eliminated from contention in 14th place. Denver had its fair share of expansion-team moments throughout the season. Whether it makes the playoffs or not, the team should only improve heading into its second year in the NWSL.
The Denver Summit will be back in action on the road in Chicago to face the bottom-of-the-league Chicago Stars on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. Mountain Time.
