Battle For The Beach Four-Team Soccer Tournament’s Prize Includes A Trip To Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Coaches in all sports can put a theory to test this weekend during the “Battle for the Beach” soccer tournament.

The Western Conference Northern Division playoffs for the USISL Premier League features a bunch of strangers, all things considered.

That’s considering all four are in the same division but in the 78 games they played, there were only four meetings between them.

Spokane played Puget Sound three times, Puget Sound played San Francisco once and no one has played Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs).

Puget Sound plays league-champion Spokane in tonight’s first game at 6 at Spokane Falls Community College. In the second game, Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs) faces San Francisco.

The best theory will be in the eye of the beholder, depending on who wins.

The winners play Sunday at 6 p.m. for the right to represent the division in the Premier League championships in Cocoa Beach, Fla., next week.

So, is it better to know the opponent or know nothing?

“I look at it as good,” Spokane coach Einar Thorarinsson said. “They have beaten us twice. We knew both times, I’m sure they’ll read this, we had bad games. Those two were our two worst games of the year. The Hammers are a good team, we have a lot of respect for them, but it makes us even hungrier.”

Puget Sound is 2-1 against Spokane, the wins sandwiched between the Shadow’s 10-game winning streak. Since Spokane lost just three times - once at home - it would seem Puget Sound is holding the hammer.

“I don’t necessarily think we have their number,” Hammers coach Ken Fuegmann said. “The last time over in Spokane we were a bit fortunate to win the game. Both teams are very physical, very hard-working teams. When we come together, it’s anyone’s game.”

Puget Sound also owns a 2-1 win over the Seals, rallying for two goals in the second half at San Francisco.

“Looking at the four teams, with its history, San Francisco is the favorite,” Fuegmann said. “San Francisco is excellent. They have lot of national-championship experience. Looking down the roster you’ll see players that are very talented.”

Thorarinsson agreed.

“For San Francisco, I know some of the players from the Bay Area,” he said. “They’re a solid team. I would rank them as the favorite of the two that play in second game.”

San Francisco and Pikes Peak met in the playoffs last year, but Stampede coach Ken White said, “We don’t really know them because the teams have changed since last year. I’m sure San Francisco lost players. We have two playing in the MSL (Major League Soccer) and four playing with the (A League) Colorado Foxes.”

Most of the crowd will focus on Spokane and Puget Sound.

Despite the same work ethic, the styles aren’t similar, Fuegmann said.

“Our styles are different; Spokane is a lot more direct than we are,” Fuegmann said. “They tend to send balls up the field from a little deeper than we do. We tend to be more of a short-passing team, working the ball up slowly and attack when we get into the attacking third when we have a numbers advantage.”

Thorarinsson said, “I think they match up against us well. They know us, they know our players. That may be a factor.

“To get where you want to go, ultimately to the national playoffs, you have to go through (everyone), so it doesn’t matter. You may have to play the Hammers anyway, so play them now.”

, DataTimes MEMO: These 2 sidebars appeared with the story:

1. TONIGHT Spokane faces Puget Sound at 6 at SFCC

2. BATTLE FOR THE BEACH USISL Premier League Northern Division Western Conference playoffs today and Sunday at Spokane Falls Community College:

Spokane Shadow Finish: Division champion Record: 12-2 in league, 17-3 overall Coach: Einar Thorarinsson History: Second year in USISL. Last year played 12-game provisional schedule Goals for: 34 Goals against: 17 Keeper: Bill May, 1.00 goals-against average; John Nagel, 1.31 goals-against average Key players: F Zane Higgins (10 goals, 12 assists), F Jim Martinson (11-1), MF Dave Berto (9-1), F Chris Stiles (6-1) Notable: The Shadow finished with the best overall record in the country among the 82 USISL teams in three leagues. … Both league losses were to Puget Sound, 4-2 on the road May 19 and 3-1 at SFCC on July 6. … Between losses, the Shadow won 10 straight. … Higgins finished tied for sixth in Premier League (34 teams) with 32 points and was selected to All-Star team. … Spokane never had the same starting lineup in back-to-back games. … The Shadow have 22 players on the roster who played high school or college soccer in Spokane.

Puget Sound Hammers Finish: Fourth in division Record: 8-6 in league, 11-9 overall Coach: Ken Fuegmann History: Second year in USISL, last year finished 10-8 and missed the playoffs by one point Goals for: 31 Goals against: 23 Keeper: Chuck Granade, 1.4 goals-against average Key players: Nick Kalafatich (8 goals, 4 assists), D Brandon Prideaux, MF Bill Colello, MF Leighton O’Brien Notable: Forward Ian Russell has scored four goals and added three assists in the last five games since recovering from an injury. … Russell is one of six University of Washington players who joined the team midway through the season. Prideaux is another Husky, credited with solidifying the defense. … Besides two wins over the Shadow (4-2, 3-1), the Hammers also beat the Seals (2-1 in SF). … Kalafatich had all three goals against the Shadow in the second meeting. … Lane Spidahl had three goals and an assist in the first meeting but is not on the playoff roster. … The Hammers lost to Spokane 2-1 at home in the Shadow’s season-opener. … The team is primarily composed of current college players with the average age of 21. … The Hammers also have five players from Seattle Pacific and three from Seattle U.

San Francisco Bay Seals Finish: Second in division Record: 10-4 in league, 15-5 overall Coach: Tom Simpson History: Fifth year in USISL, last year won Western Regional championshp and advanced to national finals Goals for: 35 Goals against: 15 Keeper: Aram Kardzair, 1.03 goals-against average Key players: F Chris McDonald (13 goals), MF Ken Folan (12 assists), MF Angelo Sablo (10 assists) Notable: Last year the Seals ended the regular season 19-1, winning the West, and were third in the Premier League national championships. … The team entered the USISL in 1992 as the All Blacks, but changed its name this year at the urging of the New Zealand national team known as the All Blacks. … Their record as the All Blacks was 52-14. … McDonald’s 13 goals were fifth in the Premier League. … Folan was tied for second and Sablo tied for third in assists. … The Seals’ roster include Albertin Montoya, a member of the U.S. Olympic team, although he missed the Atlanta Games because of an injury.

Pikes Peak (Colo. Springs) Stampede! Finish: Third place in division Record: 9-5 in league, 12-6 overall Coach: Ken White History: Second year in USISL, last year lost to San Francisco in the Western championship game Goals for: 20 Goals against: 12 Keeper: Mike LaBerger, 0.62 goals-against average Key players: F Dan Morland, F Noah Epstein, MF Jerome Watson Notable: The Stampede were thrown into the Western Conference at the last moment to balance the leagues and then put into the Northern Division. However, they didn’t play a single team from the West. … Most of the Stampede games were against Central Conference Southern Division foes, like league champion Austin Lone Stones, followed by Sioux City Breeze, Omaha Flames, Des Moines Menace, Oklahoma City Heat and Wichita Blue. … Ironically, the Central-South playoffs were scheduled for Colorado Springs but were moved to Omaha, Neb., when the Stampede moved and the third-seeded Flames advanced to the Premier League finals. … White was coach of the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers for two years, guiding them to the playoffs. That team hasn’t made the playoffs in the two years since he left, while the Stampede has. … He also is a majority owner of the team. … Richland native Matt Atencio left the team for family reasons during the season but White said he would be in uniform in Spokane. … The Stampede closed the regular season with seven straight wins.