Abby Smith's Nine Saves Earn Denver Summit a Club-First Point in 1-1 Draw at Orlando Pride

Twenty-two shots. Ten on target. One goal. Abby Smith spent Friday night in Orlando playing the goalkeeper from a sports movie montage, and the Orlando Pride never found the plot twist.

Smith made nine saves as Denver Summit FC drew 1-1 with the Pride at Inter&Co Stadium, banking what the expansion club called a "club first" point on the road. Melissa Kössler gave Denver a first-half lead, Barbra Banda headed in the equalizer on her birthday, and both teams left the first-ever meeting between the clubs at 0-1-1 with 1 point.

A Lead, and Then a Siege

Denver came out like a team with something to prove after losing its opener at Bay FC. Natasha Flint fired wide after a corner in the fifth minute, and Kaleigh Kurtz twice got her head to Carson Pickett corners inside the first 12 minutes, both times heading wide.

Orlando thought it had the opener around the 12th minute through Jacqueline Ovalle, but the Pride say the goal was ruled out for offside in the buildup. Banda had already tested Smith from distance in the second minute and forced another stop in the 21st.

Then Denver struck. In the 24th minute, Flint slipped the ball to Kössler in the middle of the box and the German forward finished low with her right foot into the bottom left corner. It was Flint's first NWSL assist, according to Denver, and it made Kössler the scorer of both goals in Summit history. The club says that makes her only the second player in league history to score a franchise's first two goals, matching a feat set by Sam Kerr in 2013.

The rest of the half was a shooting gallery. Smith stopped an Ovalle header from close range in the 27th minute. Summer Yates smacked the crossbar from the right side of the box in the 31st. Smith dove to keep out a long-range Ovalle strike in the 42nd and repeated the trick in stoppage time. Denver went to the locker room up 1-0, which the club says was the first halftime lead in its history.

Orlando Finally Breaks Through

Pride head coach Seb Hines went to the bench at the break, sending on Angelina for Ally Lemos and Solai Washington for Seven Castain. The pressure ramped up immediately. Smith saved from Haley McCutcheon at a tight angle in the 53rd minute, kept out a Banda drive two minutes later, and stopped Hannah Anderson from the center of the box in the 60th.

Denver could not hold the dam forever. In the 61st minute, Orlando broke quickly, Ovalle delivered the cross and Banda rose to nod it into the top left corner from point-blank range. 1-1.

From there, it was Orlando knocking and Denver bolting the door. Smith turned away Washington in the 71st minute, Banda headed wide in the 80th after a short stoppage and had a close-range effort blocked two minutes later, and the Pride piled on corners deep into five minutes of added time. Denver held, partly through discipline and partly through 41 clearances that ranged from tidy to pure panic.

The Turning Point

Halftime. Denver's first 45 minutes were nervy but productive, and the Summit had the lead to show for it. Hines' double change gave the Pride fresh legs on both flanks, and Washington in particular kept running at the Denver back line, finishing with two shots and a cross for one of Banda's late chances. Orlando's equalizer came 16 minutes after the restart, and from that point on, the question was whether Smith could keep the Pride from finding a winner. She could.

Smith Puts On a Show

Nine saves is a highlight reel in one evening, and Smith added a personal milestone in the middle of it. According to Denver, she recorded her 250th career NWSL save early in the second half, becoming the 13th goalkeeper in league history to get there. Asked about it afterward, she kept it humble. "I'm really thankful to have been able to play this long and to be a part of this amazing group," she said.

Kössler continues to be Denver's whole offense, and that is not a complaint. She had two shots, both on target, scored the opener and forced Anna Moorhouse into her only save of the night with a strike from outside the box in the 29th minute.

For Orlando, Banda was everywhere: nine shots, four on target, three offside flags and the equalizer. Per the Pride, it was her 23rd regular-season goal for the club, tied for the second most in club history, and she became the first Pride player to score on her birthday. Ovalle put all three of her shots on target and picked up her first assist of the season.

The Pride also handed Hannah Anderson her first start for the club at center back, while Denver gave Nahikari García her NWSL debut off the bench and celebrated Yazmeen Ryan's 100th NWSL appearance, per the Summit.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Orlando 22, Denver 8. On target: 10 to 2.
• Saves: Smith 9, Moorhouse 1.
• Corners: Orlando 13, Denver 4.
• Clearances: Denver 41, Orlando 18.
• Offsides: Orlando was flagged 7 times, Banda 3 of them.

What It Means

Orlando has now started 0-1-1 after a 2-1 home loss to Seattle Reign FC on opening weekend. Hines did not hide from the pattern. "We're creating a lot of chances, but we're getting punished for errors at the back," he said, before adding the fix he wants: "We have to be more switched on, cut off the angles better and not allow teams any opportunities to get up in the game."

He also saw a response from the opener. "I think there was a good response from last week's disappointing result," Hines said. The Pride now head out on a two-game road trip, starting at Chicago Stars FC on Wednesday, March 25, before a Sunday visit to defending NWSL champion Gotham FC on March 29.

Denver, after a 2-1 loss at Bay, finally has something in the points column. Next up is another tough road date, at Gotham on Wednesday.

Closing Take

Expansion seasons are supposed to come with growing pains, and Denver has already had a few. But this was the version of the Summit that sticks: a sharp finisher in Kössler, a goalkeeper who can steal points, and a back line willing to absorb 90 minutes of pressure. Orlando will look at 22 shots and wonder how it only got one past her. Smith would probably tell them: welcome to the wall.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by the Orlando Pride's official site and DenverSummitFC.com.