Bianca St-Georges Seals Boston Legacy's First-Ever Win in 3-2 Comeback Over Denver Summit FC

For six games, Boston Legacy FC kept showing up to the party and leaving without a slice of cake. On Sunday at Gillette Stadium, it finally got the whole thing, and it waited until the last possible second to cut it.

Aïssata Traoré scored in the 90th minute and Bianca St-Georges added the winner four minutes into stoppage time as Boston Legacy came from behind twice to beat Denver Summit FC 3-2 in front of 12,524 fans. It was the first win in club history, according to Boston, and it came against the league's other expansion side in a game Denver led until the 90th minute.

Denver Strikes First, Boston Hits Everything but the Net

Boston came out swinging. Alba Caño forced a save from Abby Smith in the fifth minute, Amanda Gutierres fired over moments later, and the Legacy had two more shots blocked in the eighth. Then Denver did what good road teams do. In the 18th minute, Natasha Flint teed up Yazmeen Ryan, and Ryan struck a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. Per the Summit, it was Ryan's first goal of the season and her first for the club.

Boston kept knocking. Smith saved from Caño again in the 24th minute, and Gutierres smacked the crossbar from the left side of the box in the 32nd. Denver had its own chances, with Flint narrowly missing from the center of the box in the 37th. There was also a milestone for the visitors: according to Denver, defender Carson Pickett reached 15,000 NWSL minutes in the 23rd minute, becoming only the 19th player in league history to get there.

The equalizer finally came from a set piece. After a corner late in the half, Laís Araújo's header was blocked and Nichelle Prince pounced, heading in from very close range for 1-1. Denver's recap noted it was Prince's first goal for Boston. Smith still had to save from Sammy Smith in first-half stoppage time to keep it level at the break.

A Tactical Nudge and a Flint Rocket

Boston kept the ball for long spells after halftime but struggled to find the final pass. The Legacy's first change came in the 55th minute, with Jorelyn Carabalí replacing Sammy Smith, and the club said the move pushed St-Georges into a more attacking role. That detail matters later. St-Georges was booked four minutes later, and Caño sent a direct free kick just over in the 64th.

Both benches got busy. Denver sent on Emma Regan, Ayo Oke, Ally Brazier and Olivia Thomas, and Boston answered in the 71st minute with Traoré and Laurel Ansbrow. In the 77th, Thomas found Flint, and Flint lashed a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top left corner for a 2-1 Denver lead. The Summit say that made Flint the first player in club history to record a goal and an assist in the same game.

The Final Five Minutes

With the clock running down, Boston threw on Chloe Ricketts and Aleigh Gambone and kept pushing. In the 90th minute, Ansbrow combined with Traoré in the area, and Traoré finished right-footed from the center of the box into the bottom left corner. Two subs, one goal, and Gillette woke up.

Four minutes into stoppage time, with Flint booked moments earlier, Traoré flicked a header into the path of St-Georges in the center of the box. St-Georges, the defender Boston had nudged forward an hour earlier, took a couple of touches to steady herself and rolled a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Bedlam.

Denver nearly ruined the party anyway. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Natalie Means crossed for Brazier from close range, and Brazier pushed it wide right. That is the kind of miss that lives in a group chat for weeks.

If you want the hinge of the afternoon, look at the 71st-minute double change. Ansbrow and Traoré had been on the field for 19 minutes when they combined for the equalizer, and Traoré then set up the winner for the defender Boston had moved forward. Denver's bench produced an assist of its own through Thomas, but Boston's bench produced the equalizer and the assist on the winner.

Who Made the Difference

Traoré changed the game in 19 minutes plus stoppage time. She took one shot, scored with it, and assisted the winner. St-Georges did a bit of everything: a goal, a yellow card, and five fouls committed as Boston's most physical presence. Caño led all players with seven shots, two on target, and Prince had the first-half equalizer.

For Denver, Flint was superb with a goal, an assist and three shots. Abby Smith made three saves, all of them in a busy first half, and Brazier had four shots off the bench but none that counted.

The Numbers Behind the Breakthrough

• Shots: Boston 19, Denver 9, with Boston putting eight on target to Denver's three.
• Possession: Boston had 61.8 percent of the ball and 513 passes to Denver's 313.
• Interceptions: Denver made 20 to Boston's 13, a sign of how much defending the Summit did.
• Corners: Boston 4, Denver 1, and one of those four produced the Prince equalizer.
• Late goals: Boston scored twice from the 90th minute on after managing one goal in the first 89.

A First Win and a Familiar Ache

Boston moves to 1-1-5 with four points. Before Sunday, the Legacy had lost their first five games and drawn 2-2 with the North Carolina Courage. Boston heads to Gotham FC on Saturday, May 9, with something it did not have a week ago: proof.

Denver falls to 1-3-3 with six points after a second straight 3-2 loss, following the San Diego Wave's 3-2 win in Denver. The Summit are winless in four since beating Gotham FC 2-0 in March. Their next match is at the Houston Dash.

Every Franchise Needs a Pilot Episode

Every great series has a pilot episode that convinces you to keep watching. Boston's took six weeks to air, and it came with a twist ending. Traoré and St-Georges wrote the final scene, Gillette supplied the soundtrack, and an expansion club finally has its first highlight package worth framing.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Club notes as reported by Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC; neither club's recap included postgame quotes.