DENVER — Denver Summit FC delivered one of the biggest victories of its inaugural season, scoring three second-half goals to defeat reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC 3-0 at Centennial Stadium.
The victory improved Denver to 8-8-6 with 30 points and gave the expansion side consecutive wins for just the second time this season. More impressively, the Summit completed a regular-season sweep of Gotham, becoming the only team to accomplish the feat against the defending champions this year.
Denver also became just the second expansion team in league history to sweep a reigning champion during the regular season, joining Angel City FC, which swept the Washington Spirit in 2022.
Gotham entered the match unbeaten in its previous 10 contests, with its last defeat coming July 4 against San Diego.
Denver Breaks Through After Scoreless First Half
The Summit controlled 52.2 percent of possession during a scoreless opening half and limited Gotham to only three shots, tied for the club’s lowest first-half total of the season.
Denver finally broke through five minutes after halftime.
Ayo Oke helped set up rookie Yuzuki Yamamoto, who finished the opportunity in the 50th minute to give the Summit a 1-0 advantage. It was Yamamoto’s second goal of her rookie season — and her second in as many matches following her goal against Chicago.
The early second-half strike continued a season-long trend for Denver. The Summit have now scored nine times during the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the most in the league this season.
Gotham remained within one until the closing stages, when Denver quickly put the match away.
Thomas, Ryan Put Gotham Away Late
Rookie Olivia Thomas doubled Denver’s advantage in the 82nd minute, taking a feed from Yazmeen Ryan and carrying the ball roughly half the field before finishing to make it 2-0. Like Yamamoto, Thomas has now scored in consecutive matches.
Ryan then went from provider to scorer six minutes later.
Tash Flint found Ryan outside the box, and the Summit forward finished the opportunity for Denver’s third goal of the afternoon. The goal and assist gave Ryan 10 goal contributions on the season and made her the fifth Denver player to record multiple goal contributions in a match this year.
The three-goal performance was especially notable against a Gotham defense that had conceded three or more goals just twice since the beginning of the 2025 season.
Asman Earns First NWSL Clean Sheet
While Denver’s attack erupted after halftime, goalkeeper Kat Asman and the Summit defense kept Gotham off the scoresheet.
Asman recorded four saves to secure the first clean sheet of her NWSL career and Denver’s fifth shutout of the season. Gotham finished with only nine total shots, its second-lowest output of the year.
Denver has now scored nine goals over its last two home matches and 11 across its last three at Centennial Stadium. Six different Summit players have contributed those nine goals during the two-game winning streak.
More importantly, Denver continues to show it can compete with the NWSL’s best. The Summit remain unbeaten at Centennial Stadium this season against top-three opponents Portland, Utah and Gotham.
After consecutive home victories over Chicago and the reigning champions, Denver’s expansion season suddenly has considerable momentum heading into the stretch run.
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