Welcome back to “I’m Curious!”

We’re going on the road! I’ve been on vacation since Friday and will be through all of this week. 

Instead of working my day job, I’ll be merging both my big annual recharge and the work of this here newsletter.

What that means for you is the newsletter won’t necessarily be covering the Spirit’s road games, although it was a tough loss in a well-fought battle with league leaders San Diego Wave.

Instead, it’ll be a closer look at other clubs: first Denver here covering Saturday’s game, and then Portland, where I am now and covered Sunday’s game, in the next edition.

Let’s jump in, but as always, feel free to either read through or flip around as you see fit!

Here’s the Table of Contents.

Table of Contents

• The Most Curious Thing This Week

• The Photo Bay

  • Marta The Thinker

  • Move It, Football Head: Fun Soccer Hats

  • Say Hey! Players Come Through the Crowd

  • Left in the Dust: Yazmeen Ryan vs. Hannah Anderson

  • Gaetino the Goal Scorer: Eva Gaetino's First Pro Goal

  • Not a War Zone...

  • ...But a Goal Zone!

• My Reporting

  • It Just Means More: Pride and Rainbows Aplenty

  • For Spacious Skies: A Trip Up Pikes Peak

• Something Good I Ate: Best Crab Rangoons

And here’s Peach!

The Most Curious Thing This Week

It’s the Denver Summit, who may be on track to peak at just the right time.

The Summit were riding high on Saturday night, keeping last year’s semifinalists the Orlando Pride in check virtually all evening as they leapt over the playoff line with a 3-1 win in Denver.

It was the first home win in club history, coming in their last of a handful of games played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids of MLS. The Summit will move to a temporary stadium across town as they wait for a purpose-built stadium to be constructed in Denver itself.

Denver controlled the game from the jump, with much of the early action unfolding in Denver’s attacking half of the field. There were a handful of early chances, including a corner that just missed German striker Melissa Kössler.

But in the 11^th minute, winger Yazmeen Ryan launched a ball from the right side into the box out of a short corner, with Kössler rising above Orlando’s Hailie Mace to deflect the ball back across goal. It was on track to head wide of the net, but Denver center back Eva Gaetino crashed the net and leapt up to deflect it off her chest and in.

It was the first professional goal for the 23-year-old. The Michigan native found early success at Notre Dame, earning a senior national team call-up in 2024 and playing the last three seasons in France for Paris Saint-Germain.

“For me, coming from overseas, coming here, starting for a little bit, getting injured, like, it hasn’t been easy by any means but, I mean, it’s so validating to know that the work I’m putting in is paying off,” Gaetino said. “And I’m not gonna sit here and smell the roses quite yet. I think there’s a lot more for me and for the team to come.”

It was an emotional moment for Gaetino who made her return stateside to join the Summit this season and also was injured just before the team’s home opener in front of a record-setting 63,004 fans. She has also been open on her social media dating back to her departure from PSG about how her career has been a difficult journey and taxing on her mental health.

“The professional game, it’s not everything you see in the media,” Gaetino said. “It’s not—I think social media is a highlight reel, and I don’t think people see the work and the commitment that these girls put in day in and day out.”

While Denver largely kept the momentum through the rest of the first half, it took until after halftime for any additional goals to come.

Outside back Janine Sonis led the way for the Summit with two goals, notching her second brace of the season. Sonis had all of Denver’s scoring in the second stanza, first by converting a penalty kick after teammate Yazmeen Ryan drew a foul in the box, and then sealing the game with a goal in the 77^th minute.

The second goal from Sonis came less than two minutes after Orlando’s star striker Barbra Banda beat Denver’s back line and had plenty of space to put in her league-leading 9^th goal of the season.

“We knew we had control of the game, and that their goal came from maybe us being a little too casual in possession, which you can get lulled into,” Sonis said.

Things got fairly testy in the second half as well, with Banda receiving a yellow in the second half and her teammate Angelina receiving a red for a hair pull on Denver’s Delanie Sheehan in the 63^rd minute. 

The two clubs also scuffled as the referees reviewed the foul that ultimately led to Sonis’s penalty kick.

It was clear watching that frustration has been mounting for Orlando. What had been a very potent attack in past years has sputtered, with the Pride losing many of their secondary attacking options to other clubs or to injury. The Pride’s legendary midfielder Marta was a second-half substitute as she navigates a return from injury, while one of the club’s main central attacking options, Ally Brazier (née Watt), was sitting across from them after joining the Summit this past offseason.

While midfielder Haley McCutcheon picked up the slack early in the season, including with a two-goal game against Angel City in April, the support for Banda has largely dried up. Banda was the only player for Orlando to even attempt a shot inside the 18-yard box, and at many points, Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse or center backs Hannah Anderson and Cori Dyke often just resorted to blasting the ball a long way downfield in the hopes that Banda would find it with space.

Whether it was altitude, heading down to 10 players early in the second half, or just frustration, Orlando looked like a shell of both their former dominant selves, and of what the club can be if they figure out how to get the most of their roster’s immense talent.

“I think we just need to get on the same page defensively,” Pride fullback Kerry Abello said after the game. “I think sometimes we’re caught in between the mid-block, the press, and I think we need to just all get on the same page and know, kind of, when we’re going, when we can trap. I think teams are evolving too. They’re getting better, they’re playing better soccer and we need to adapt to that.”

Abello made her return late in the second half, as Orlando’s ever-dependable outside back has been out of action all season with a hip injury.

She did steal the show in a game that would otherwise be one to forget for the Pride, breaking out a flip throw late in the match. It was a first for her as a professional, and one that earned plenty of ooh’s, aah’s and gasps even from the opposing Denver crowd.

I asked her postgame if this was something she had been working on.

“I learned how to do it when I was in club soccer, youth soccer, and I did it all through college and I just never really used it in the pro game yet. It’s been a really long time since I’ve done it but I’ve always kind of kept it in my tool belt. And I don’t know, it only felt right to pull it out after I’ve been out for six months and so, glad I still have it.”

Denver, now tied for 7^th place, heads to Utah for their next match on Saturday against a resurgent Utah Royals team. Orlando, meanwhile, currently at 9^th on the table and below the playoff line, will have an uphill battle to turn things around, as they head to San Diego to face the league-leading Wave on Sunday.

The Photo Bay

The camera made the trip with me to Denver! Here’s some of what we found.

Marta The Thinker

It was a rough night in a tough stretch for the Orlando Pride. Marta, now 40 years old and playing her tenth season with the club, has been recovering from injuries that have sidelined her and limited her minutes so far this season.

But in the first half, before she was subbed on after halftime, I could see her carefully watching the game and identifying some of the things the club was missing.

She didn’t end up changing the outcome, but it was fascinating to stand just over her shoulder across the barrier where the photographers were and watch. And I captured this shot of her observing what was unfolding.

Move It, Football Head!

Seeing this picture, I immediately thought of the 90s Nickelodeon show “Hey Arnold,” with its football-headed main character. 

This, of course, is a different football, but I did love to see these two Summit fans wearing soccer balls over their heads, especially the one fan in green pairing it with a scarf and a big Denver Summit logo necklace.

Say Hey!

It was a weird little twist of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park that players had to walk through a club section of the crowd to get to the field. It allowed for some close-up shots of players walking out before the game and out of halftime. And it put players a lot closer to fans, leading to some hellos and fun interactions.

Left in the Dust

Summit forward Yazmeen Ryan had a good chance in the first half, getting herself a one-on-one matchup with Pride keeper Anna Moorhouse that she ended up missing a bit wide left.

But just before that, Pride center back Hannah Anderson lunged forward to try to race Ryan to the ball, falling—literally—a bit short and taking a tumble as Ryan pushed forward to try to score.

Gaetino the Goal Scorer

As we mentioned earlier, it was an emotional night for Summit center back Eva Gaetino. The 23-year-old scored her first professional goal, celebrated it by running right back out of the net after her momentum carried her into it.

And I also was able to snap this picture of her, clearly deeply in focus as she headed back out after halftime.

Not a War Zone…

Despite the waving flags and thick smoke, the scenes in the 14ers supporters section were not of a war zone, but of a celebration.

Thick green and gray smoke shot up after the Summit scored their second goal of the night, and fans braved it to celebrate their team.

…But a Goal Zone!

Off the field, fans navigated the smoke, but on it, the biggest challenge was converting a penalty kick. Janine Sonis ended up able to beat Anna Moorhouse for her first goal and the team’s second of the night, jumping for joy before teammates mobbed her.

My Reporting

It Just Means More: Pride and Rainbows Aplenty

With the entire month of June off, NWSL teams have had to figure out other dates to celebrate Pride. And for Denver Summit, that was Friday night’s game, fittingly enough, against the Orlando Pride.

The crowd was so full of joy, with so many members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies dancing, singing, cheering and partying through the game. The Summit wore rainbow numbers on their jerseys, and while Orlando was the visiting team, they also were wearing their new jerseys that are meant to honor the 10-year anniversary of the attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

On an evening with changing weather conditions, as sunset and sprinkles of rain regularly swapped places, a rainbow emerged, arcing perfectly over the eastern grandstand.

In addition, two U.S. women’s national team legends, Tobin Heath and Christen Press, attended the game as part of their new initiative, Football Loves You. Heath and Press both played most of their careers before coming out as a couple, and as they’ve moved toward post-playing life, they’ve started a business, called RE, and a corresponding podcast, The RE—Cap Show.

With Denver as a new club and lots of other excitement all around, it took a moment for the topic of Pride to come up when they spoke to reporters Friday night.

But I was able to ask them about their initiative and the context of it being a very difficult time to be LGBTQ+ in the U.S. right now. And their answers are fully worth you watching or listening.

“You can’t separate queer culture and women’s sports,” Heath said. “They are absolutely tied together in the fabric of everything that we built and everything that we cared about, so those two things go hand in hand.”

“And for the communities that are being built around these new franchises, it’s essential in all of women’s sport that we build on who we actually are. And especially at a time that the sport is growing and increasing, and the more money that’s being put into it, we have to fight more than ever to hold the space of authenticity in what the sport means to us, the players, the fans, communities that love them. And that’s why Pride in the NWSL, or even in women’s sports, it’s not just one night, you feel it every single game.” 

Press expanded on how important the two of them felt it was to push for inclusivity in sports in this particular moment in the U.S.

“We wanted to make something that was deeply meaningful to us, and acknowledged the reality that our country right now is exclusive, and it feels threatening, and that not everybody gets to show up in all places and be welcomed,” Press said.

“But places that Tobin and I get to create—our business, our spaces, our league, our teams—they’re always gonna be inclusive, because that’s what matters to us.”

It was hard not to think about their comments while watching the night unfold. While Colorado has laws protecting its members of the LGBTQ+ community, many of its neighbors do not. People driving an hour from Wyoming or a few hours from Kansas do not have spaces like this. Places like the Summit game this weekend may be have a party-like atmosphere, but in the face of a hostile culture, they are still defiant.

Just last week, we saw the men’s sports community take time to reflect after the tragic death of former NBA player Jason Collins, the first active player in a major men’s American sport to come out as LGBTQ+, from cancer at age 47. On “Inside the NBA,” basketball legend Charles Barkley mentioned that we still live in a homophobic society and asserted that there are almost certainly closeted LGBTQ+ players in the league, due to the fact that men’s sports are especially tough places for people to come out.

Women’s sports are not perfect. They are not completely heaven for players, especially those who are LGBTQ+. But looking out and seeing players on both teams who were members of the LGBTQ+ community, including several folks who found love with former or even current teammates, it was hard not to think about just how much queer culture was tied with the sport.

For Spacious Skies: A Trip Up Pikes Peak

On Saturday morning, before the game, I took the chance to head up to a literal summit. I ended up driving the roughly 20-mile road up Pikes Peak, taking in the views from 14,115 feet above sea level. 

It is a challenging, and occasionally daring drive, with some stretches of road having no shoulder or barrier separating you from heading off a high cliff. Driving it requires using manual transmission and gear shifts, as well as managing your engine temperature and brakes. And as you drive near the summit, you may get a bit lightheaded and have to move slowly.

But at the top is a commanding view of the Rockies and the Front Range, and an emotional reflection on nature’s beauty and its role in American history.

Pikes Peak served as a significant marker for several tribes in the region, including the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapahoe. As white settlers moved westward, it became a Colorado landmark. And a trip to the top inspired a college professor Katharine Lee Bates to write a poem about it, published in 1895. After a New Jersey church organist set the poem to music, Americans became forever familiar with Bates ode to America’s amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties. It was Pikes Peak that led to the creation of the song America the Beautiful.

A plaque at the peak tells visitors about this fact, and it was another big moment of reflection for me. Because the poem and song are not just about America’s combo of mountains and agriculture. It is an ode to progress and fighting against tyranny and injustice. We don’t usually sing the other verses, but the third verse reads: “O beautiful for heroes proved, in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.”

Bates was writing before Americans ever had to fight a war abroad and with the Civil War looming in Americans’ collective memory. It honored the Americans who fought and died to end slavery out of their love for the country and with an eye toward what America ought to be.

Maybe it was the lightheadedness from the altitude or the early wakeup to get to the gate when it opened at 9 am, but I couldn’t help but get emotional at just how much this place and its view meant, and what it offered about what America can become. There may be plenty of puffed up pomp around America’s 250^th birthday in the weeks to come, but a trip up Pikes Peak did more to renew my pride in this country than any UFC fight ever could.

Something Good I Ate

Denver is not necessarily known as a food city but it has upped its game in recent years, to the point where the Michelin guide now offers its take on the city’s food scene.

I swung by MAKFam, a Chinese-American restaurant that Michelin awarded a Bib Gourmand, its distinction for fare that might not meet their fancy standards but still presents a great value.

The guide’s write-up mentioned their crab and cheese Rangoons, so when looking for something to order, I decided to opt for them. I like crab Rangoon, but wasn’t sure if they were going to do something off-putting. They do serve them hot with a ton of filling, which I was not used to. But they were delicious. And pairing them with a sweet duck sauce added a layer that I did not know crab Rangoon could have.

I think I can say with confidence that they were the best crab Rangoons I have ever had, and I highly recommend.

Just a note: Any opinions I express here are solely mine, and do not reflect the views of my employer, my coworkers, or anybody else affiliated with me. The newsletter is not monetized in any way and everything in here is written and reported with my own resources on my own time outside of my working hours unless specifically noted otherwise. “I’m Curious” is just for me, the author, and for you, the reader. Thank you for reading. I’m glad you’re here.