You couldn’t throw a ball inbounds without hitting somebody wearing a “HORAN” or a “SMITH” or a “SWANSON” jersey. Assuming you could swing your arms above your head, of course. Traffic around the concourse at Dick’s felt like a Monday afternoon along I-25 North. Rocky Mountain pride, going nowhere fast.

Colorado accounted for half of Saturday’s goals in a 4-0 win (Mallory Swanson, Highlands Ranch, had a brace), and 27% of the starting lineup. Did you hear those screams, in the distance,19,010 strong? Oh, yeah, there’s a market here for a women’s pro team. A healthy one.

“I would come to as many (matches) as possible,” Brad Stoffer of Erie told me before the start of the match. “Just because I’ve got two girls that are involved (in soccer). I’ve also got a son that’s involved. But nonetheless, there’s no question that I would come as often as possible.

“It is very surprising (that it hasn’t happened in Colorado). Just because I think they deserve it. I think they deserve to have it here. I think it would bring in additional support for soccer period. And women’s soccer, too.”

Brad’s daughter Sophie, 12, is a goalkeeper. Between her and her two elder siblings, now 17 and 16, the family’s spent roughly a decade driving the crew to tournaments, buying orange slices. And there are thousands more here with the same story. Thousands.

“I think the biggest thing that I see as a parent, we’ve got three kids, two girls, a boy — they all do soccer,” Brad’s wife, Renee, added. “(And) having role models that they can look up to that are local, that makes them feel … to have somebody close by to actually look at and say, ‘I can do that,’ you know, that’s, that’s the biggest thing that I see as a parent. … I absolutely would support it, because it’s just a wonderful game.”

Hubbard and his partners aren’t at liberty to go super-deep on details, and he gently swatted away specifics Saturday the way U.S. goalkeeper Jane Campbell turned away Korean shots.

NWSL commish Jessica Berman in May 2023 unveiled plans to add two expansion teams to the league by 2026. Boston has been announced as the first new club, while cities believed to be in the running to join them include Atlanta, Cleveland, Minnesota and St. Louis. That second lucky town could get a green light as soon as this summer, insiders say.

“You know, we’re, we’re happy to compete. And we think we’ll be competitive,” Hubbard said.

He says they’ll still be aiming to build a soccer-first stadium and training facility in metro Denver, or in a central location thereabouts. The Chicago Red Stars reportedly needed $60 million in investment to land a NWSL team. Is the money there?

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