Natalie Means scored late and the Denver Summit welcomed U.S. national team captain Lindsey Heaps to the club with a 2-1 home victory over the Portland Thorns on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of more than 12,000.
Heaps started for Denver (5-4-4) after spending four seasons with Lyon. The Summit announced the signing in January, but she first had to finish the season with the French club.
Portland (8-5-3) took a 1-0 lead when Sophia Wilson converted
a penalty kick in the 23rd minute.
Janine Sonis made it 1-1 in first half-stoppage time, before Means scored her first professional goal on a narrow angle shot from outside the box in the 86th minute.
Esther González scored a brace and Rose Lavelle added the winner as Gotham FC (9-3-3) erased a late two-goal deficit for a 3-2 victory over the visiting Seattle Reign.
Mia Fishel scored on a penalty kick in the 14th minute for a 1-0 Seattle lead and Maddie Mercado made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute on a feed from Maddie Dahlien.
The Reign (5-7-2) drew another penalty kick in the 50th minute but Dahlien’s attempt hit off the post.
González cut the lead in half in the 81st minute, then scored the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Three minutes later, Sam Kerr slipped it to Rose Lavelle for the victory.
With the win, Gotham passed the San Diego Wave for the top spot in the NWSL standings. The match at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island was delayed more than two hours due to inclement weather.
Karlie Lema scored a first-half brace as visiting Bay FC (5-6-3) cruised to a 3-0 win over the North Carolina Courage.
Lema beat multiple defenders and rounded past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the game’s first goal in the 14th minute. She made it 2-0 three minutes later. Lema has now scored in three consecutive games with four goals in that span.
Racheal Kundananji intercepted a Courage pass and slotted it home for the final tall.
Goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz made five saves for her second consecutive clean sheet and fourth of the season.
The Courage (6-5-3) have dropped consecutive matches.
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