Legacy yield late penalty in road tie with Denver

Sammy Smith scored in the first half, but the Boston Legacy conceded a second-half penalty and settled for a 1-1 tie against the Denver Summit at Centennial Stadium in Centennial, Colo., on Sunday night.

Read more Red Sox hit deadline with a flourish, as four solo homers help complete sweep of MLB-best Dodgers

The Legacy (5-8-5, 20 points) remain in 12th place, 3 points behind eighth-place Angel City for the final playoff position, but most of the teams they are chasing have multiple games in hand.

Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy was excellent on the night, making six saves and also assisting on Smith’s goal in the 34th minute.

A Murphy punt led to the Hanson native Smith getting behind the Summit defense and making a nice touch off the second bounce to slip the ball through the legs of Denver goalkeeper Abby Smith. It was the fourth assist by a goalkeeper in NWSL history.

The play was initially ruled offside, only to be overturned by VAR as Smith was still in the Boston half of the field when Murphy launched her clearance.

Read more Chad Tracy on the Dodgers adding Tarik Skubal: ‘We’ll deal with it’ if teams meet in World Series

The Summit (5-6-5, 20 points) were on the front foot for most of the game and finally got the break they were looking for midway through the second half as Denver’s Natasha Flint was knocked down in the middle of the box by Jorelyn Carabali while looking to get on the end of a service.

Janine Sonis stepped up and calmly finished off her seventh goal of the year in the 72nd minute.

The Legacy played without Aïssata Traoré, who is representing Mali at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. She had two assists Sunday as Mali defeated Cape Verde, 3-2.

The Legacy will host the Portland Thorns next Sunday at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I.

Read more Iran déjà vu: Trump once again threatens massive escalation against Tehran only to walk back