A lot has happened since Colorado’s Lindsey Heaps and Sophia Wilson played for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2024.
Back then, the USWNT kickstarted the Emma Hayes era with a 4-0 win over South Korea.
An Olympic gold medal, weddings, newborns, and a Denver women’s professional soccer club later, the USWNT is back. The USWNT-Japan match kicks off Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at Dick’s in Commerce City.
It will be broadcast on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max in English and Universo and Peacock in Spanish. Westwood One will carry the radio broadcast in English.
Coach Hayes said she has fond memories of the earlier Colorado match.
“I remember being so nervous, you don't know how you're going to be received as a new coach,” Hayes said in a press conference. “Literally and figuratively, it was so hot out there. I remember the heat and walking out and thinking, ‘God, this is how I want soccer to feel in this country.’”
Hayes and the USWNT won’t have to worry about the heat this time around. The forecast calls for a strong chance of rain and snow for Friday’s match. She said her players will have to be adaptable.
“That's why we have positioned through an entirely female lens the environmental conditions that are required, whether that's our players coming into altitude, whether it's going through temperature changes today to tomorrow,” Hayes said.
A close-fought series with Japan
The team is playing Japan in the last of a three-game series. Goals from Heaps and Rose Lavelle helped beat Japan, 2-1, in the first match in San Jose. But, they followed that up with a 1-0 loss in Seattle on Tuesday. The loss snapped the USWNT’s 10-game winning streak.
Heaps, who is the USWNT captain, and will later join the new Denver Summit FC, said that the team needs to balance and grow after the loss.
“I look back at the last two games and it was just an incredible experience overall,” Heaps said. “And I thought the team actually did a really good job last game. But, you have that feeling inside that you can do more.”
Homecoming for Heaps and Wilson (and baby Gigi)
Heaps and Wilson will take the pitch in front of the home crowd for the first time in two years. Mallory Swanson, another Colorado native, will not play as she’s returning to fitness after being on maternity leave.
Since then, the trio of Swanson, Wilson, and Trinity Rodman — known as Triple Espresso— led the USWNT to the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Swanson was the team’s leading scorer with four goals and two assists.
Then, wedding bells rang, with Heaps and Wilson marrying in the months after.
Later, Wilson and Swanson welcomed new additions to their families. Wilson introduced Gigi to the world last September. Swanson and her husband, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson welcomed Josie two months later.
Heaps was present the last time the USWNT was in town. She watched them beat Ireland, 4-0. But since she’s playing this time, she had to make sure her family and friends had tickets.
“I had to get, I think, close to 50 tickets for family and friends. So that was stressful,” Heaps joked.
Wilson has brought baby Gigi along for the Japan series. It will be only her daughter’s second time in Colorado and first watching her mother play in front of the rest of the family. She’s been quite popular with the team. The team even made her an “assistant coach”
“It's been great,” Wilson said. “Obviously I love having my baby here with me. I feel very supported. But, my teammates love her. So, I have lots of help. She has lots of aunties and it's been fun just kind of getting back into it with her.”
She said Hayes loves Gigi so much she has to ask for her back sometimes.
“It's the best thing having a coach who supports you and gets it and is just there for everything that you need and makes sure that we have all the resources that we need as mothers,” Wilson said.
Building buzz
The players were especially excited by the support Denver Summit FC has already built, with the women’s team drawing a record 63,000 fans to Empower Field at Mile High for its first home game.
“It's so amazing that there's a professional team here. It's been a long time coming,” Wilson said.
Heaps will be joining the Summit later this summer. She signed a four-year deal to play for the team, starting when her contract with Olympique Lyonnes expires in July. She hopes to bring some experience to the expansion club.
“I want it to be a successful team. I want it to be a successful club,” Heaps said. “And there's so many different ways that you can look at that. It's not necessarily always getting a win. That doesn't mean pure success from an expansion team.”
Hayes said she’s not surprised by the Summit’s hot start with the fans. She is spending the next week in Denver and will be in attendance for the club’s next home game against San Diego Wave on April 25.
