The 5280 Pitch - Denver Summit FC Podcast

Kate Hanson
  • 4.8 (18)
  • Soccer
  • Updated Weekly

Women's soccer in Denver is no longer a "what if." Denver Summit FC is here. And every Tuesday, Kate Hanson — Colorado native and sports radio reporter — breaks down what's actually happening. The results. The roster. The moments defining this inaugural season in real time. Plus the players themselves, in their own words. Inaugural seasons only happen once. Might as well pay attention. Women's soccer at altitude.

  1. 1d ago ·  Video

    Denver Summit Broke Ground at Santa Fe Yards. A Field of Her Own Is Coming.

    Denver Summit FC broke ground on its permanent stadium at Santa Fe Yards, and this NWSL milestone is one I’ll be thinking about for a long time. On Thursday, October 1st, I stood on the old Gates Rubber site off I-25 and Broadway with my microphone, and this episode is me mostly getting out of the way so you can hear the day from the people who made it happen. You’ll hear club president Jen Millet’s speech about women’s sports finally leaving borrowed venues behind, which is the line that gave me chills. You’ll also hear Mayor Mike Johnston calling it “a field of her own,” and controlling owner Rob Cohen on why this stadium is meant to set the standard for investing in women’s professional sports. Then the shovels go in the ground with our captains, Kaleigh Kurtz, Janine Sonis and Lindsey Heaps. I also spoke with Elizabeth Erfling, the Mortenson project executive running the build. She’s a Colorado kid like me who remembers when this site was an empty lot. We talk about who’s actually building this stadium, including Gratacon, a woman-owned general contractor out of Lakewood. You’ll get the facts that didn’t make it into the speeches too: 12,500 fixed seats, about 13,000 total with safe standing, a target completion at the end of 2028, and only the second stadium in the country built for a women’s pro soccer team. Plus, Janine and Eva Gaetino talk about what it means to finally have a home of their own, Lindsey explains what this would have meant to her as a little girl in Golden, and Jen explains why all of this is part of the pitch to players around the league. Angel City comes to Centennial on October 17th and Racing Louisville on October 24th, our last two home games of the season. Come be loud. Follow along on Instagram, Threads and Facebook @5280pitch Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jiBAbW0QXepwdqK0qhaaF Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-5280-pitch-denver-summit-fc-podcast/id1859060272 Newsletter and blog: https://5280pitch.com

    Denver Summit Broke Ground at Santa Fe Yards. A Field of Her Own Is Coming.

  2. Oct 6 ·  Video

    Denver Summit Beat Chicago 3-0. Now They Need 9 Points and Some Help.

    Denver Summit FC beat Chicago 3-0, and the two biggest names on the roster played exactly like it. Janine Sonis has 12 goals and six assists from left back, Lindsey Heaps just scored twice, and the NWSL playoff line is still four points away. That's the push this episode is built to make sense of. Kate Hanson breaks down the most controlled win of the Summit's season, from Janine's 8th-minute strike from distance to Lindsey's brace and Abby Smith's 20th career shutout on her birthday, with postgame audio from Nick Cushing, Emma Regan, and Abby Smith. Also covered: the playoff math with three games left, a listener's stat on Denver with and without Lindsey on the field, why Devin Lynch and Lindsey are doing two different jobs, and the records this team has already set in year one. Plus the six Summit players headed out on international duty before Angel City comes to town on October 17th. Follow along on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook: @5280pitch 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jiBAbW0QXepwdqK0qhaaF 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-5280-pitch-denver-summit-fc-podcast/id1859060272 📩 Newsletter and playoff tracker: https://5280pitch.com

    Denver Summit Beat Chicago 3-0. Now They Need 9 Points and Some Help.

  3. Sep 29 ·  Video

    "We Probably Have to Win Out" Denver Summit Playoff Hopes After a 4-1 Loss in KC

    Denver Summit FC led 1-0 in Kansas City and Abby Smith had just saved a penalty shot. Then the NWSL's only unbeaten home team scored three goals in 22 minutes. That's the collapse this episode is trying to make sense of. Kate Hanson breaks down how a 4-1 loss at CPKC Stadium got away. We talk about the penalty save that flipped the momentum, Haley Hopkins' 18-minute hat trick, and why the high press that makes this team so fun to watch is also what got it beaten, with postgame audio from Nick Cushing and Janine Sonis. Also covered: the playoff math with four games left, Sunday's trip to Chicago, and Janine Sonis, Emma Regan, and Yuzuki Yamamoto's national team call-ups. Plus a Meg Reid vs. Eva Gaetino deep dive and the NWSL's newest name, Atlanta City FC. New episodes every week. Follow @5280pitch on Instagram, Facebook and Threads Sign up for the newsletter at https://5280pitch.com Check out the new hat: https://5280-pitch-shop.fourthwall.com/products/5280-rope-hat

    "We Probably Have to Win Out" Denver Summit Playoff Hopes After a 4-1 Loss in KC

  4. Sep 22 ·  Video

    Denver Summit Can Jump Into a Playoff Spot Saturday. KC Stands in the Way.

    Denver Summit FC can move into an NWSL playoff spot this weekend. It takes two results, and one of them is winning in a building where nobody has won all year. But first, Saturday night. An hour of monsoon rain, a Seattle team sitting right above us in the table, and a 2-0 lead that started to slip just three days after we let one get away against Bay. This time we held on. Seattle had one shot in the first half, and their own coach admitted we wanted it more. That's the team we are. I also get into the 47th minute. Sofia Huerta, Yaz Ryan, and a yellow card that I think should have been red. Plus what the rulebook actually says is the difference between the two. Then it's Kansas City. They're 8-4-0 at home, they beat us 3-0 in July, and Saturday morning is the biggest road game of our season. I've got my keys to the game, my prediction, and exactly what has to happen for the Summit to be sitting in eighth by Saturday night. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow @5280pitch on Instagram, Facebook and Threads Sign up for the newsletter at 5280pitch.com

    Denver Summit Can Jump Into a Playoff Spot Saturday. KC Stands in the Way.

  5. Sep 18 ·  Video

    Six Games to Save the Season: Bay FC 2-2 and Seattle Next

    Eighteen points left. Five to make up. That's where we are after drawing 2-2 with Bay FC at Centennial, and it's why Wednesday night hurt the way it did. We led that game 2-0. Eighteen shots, ten on target, three and a half expected goals through the first hour. Lindsey Heaps opened it off Natalie Means' first career assist, Janine got her eleventh of the season from a Yaz Ryan ball, and then we stopped playing. Three shots after the 61st minute. Bay scored in the 73rd and again in the fifth minute of stoppage time, and I walk you through how a game that was already won got away from us at the back post. Then the math, because this is the part that matters now. Six games left. Kansas City is on 38, Seattle 37, Angel City 36, and we're on 32. Three of our last six are against teams in this race, starting Saturday. There's no version of the rest of this season where we get to drop points against anybody and still be fine. I also get into the Abby Smith and Kat Asman debate that's taken over my comments, and why I think these last two games are on the defense rather than the keeper. Plus what Nick and Janine said after the match. Then Seattle at Centennial, 6:45 on ION, with my prediction and the reasoning behind it. Follow along at @5280pitch on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. Newsletter, blog, merch, and the playoff tracker at 5280pitch.com.

    Six Games to Save the Season: Bay FC 2-2 and Seattle Next

  6. Sep 15 ·  Video

    Denver Summit Gave Away Two Points They Couldn't Afford. Bay FC Is Next

    Denver Summit FC went up 3-1 in Los Angeles with half an hour to play. Thirteen minutes later it was 3-3. Two points gone, and an NWSL playoff race that just got a whole lot steeper. But the scoreline is doing a lot of lying. Kate breaks down how Denver had more of the ball than Angel City and generated less than half the danger — 1.28 expected goals to 3.37, the second-worst defensive night of the season — and why a high boot inside your own box with a two-goal lead is a game management problem, not a tactics problem. Then the good part: Lindsey Heaps scores her first goal in a Denver Summit kit, and her first NWSL goal since 2021, in the fastest back-to-back scoring sequence the club has ever seen. Janine Sonis reaches ten for the season from left back. And Kate gets honest about the goalkeeper rotation on Abby Smith's first night back from a knee injury, and whether Kat Asman deserved one more week. And then — Wednesday. Bay FC at Centennial on Hispanic Heritage Night. The team that beat Denver in the first match in franchise history is now fifteenth in the league, can't score, and is playing its third match in nine days. Kate lays out the table, the seven-match run-in, and why winning this one is not optional. With postgame audio from Nick Cushing and Lindsey Heaps. This is Denver Summit FC women's soccer at altitude. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow @5280pitch on Instagram, Threads and Facebook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jiBAbW0QXepwdqK0qhaaF Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-5280-pitch-denver-summit-fc-podcast/id1859060272 Newsletter: 5280pitch.com

    Denver Summit Gave Away Two Points They Couldn't Afford. Bay FC Is Next

  7. Sep 11 ·  Video

    Tash Flint Interview: Denver Summit FC, Nick Cushing and That Shot (BONUS)

    Denver Summit FC forward Tash Flint joins me this week, and folks, I've wanted this NWSL interview for a long time. You chant her name at the stadium. Now you get to hear her story. Tash grew up in Salford chasing her brothers to training and playing with the lads. She was in Manchester United's academy at five, then moved to City when United didn't have a women's team for her to step into. At City she won the 2014 League Cup under a coach you might know. Nick Cushing. She tells me what Nick sees in her now that he didn't see back then, and why she's not sure he'd have called if she were still in England. We get into her knack for year-one clubs as Denver is her fifth club in its first season. We talk Carson Pickett, the altitude, and yes, I asked about the shot. Where does that power come from? Her answer goes back to getting knocked around playing with boys. She's signed through 2027, so I asked what would make Denver the place she finishes her career. Celtic comes up. Plus the 14ers chant, her dachshunds, and the tattoos. If you like this episode, please hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with somebody. That's the biggest thing you can do for an independent show like this. Stay connected on the socials @5280pitch on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter, check out the merch, and read the blog www.5280pitch.com

    Tash Flint Interview: Denver Summit FC, Nick Cushing and That Shot (BONUS)

  8. Sep 8 ·  Video

    Denver Summit Just Beat the Best Team in the League. Angel City Is Next.

    Denver Summit FC just beat the best defense in the NWSL 3-0, and it's the team we've been waiting for all season. Scoreless at half. Then three goals in the final forty-one minutes — Yamamoto, Thomas, and Ryan all get on the board, Kat Asman gets her first clean sheet in a Denver shirt, and we end Gotham's ten-match unbeaten run for the second time this year. I break down the numbers behind what was honestly a ruthless performance, and I get into the rookie contracts nobody's talking about — three of our four rookies are already locked up through 2028. Then the part that stings a little. Sunday's win barely moved us in the standings. Orlando's one point back now, and I walk through exactly what has to happen this weekend for us to actually gain ground. The back half of the show is all Friday. We're at Angel City in a match that might decide our season, and I get into the full breakdown — their coaching change, the venue splits, and my actual prediction, model and all. Follow along at @5280pitch on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. Newsletter and blog at 5280pitch.com. Sign up for the newsletter and get special merch discounts!

    Denver Summit Just Beat the Best Team in the League. Angel City Is Next.
See All (63)

4.8
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Women's soccer in Denver is no longer a "what if." Denver Summit FC is here. And every Tuesday, Kate Hanson — Colorado native and sports radio reporter — breaks down what's actually happening. The results. The roster. The moments defining this inaugural season in real time. Plus the players themselves, in their own words. Inaugural seasons only happen once. Might as well pay attention. Women's soccer at altitude.

Information

You Might Also Like