Shadow Headed For Final Spokane Beats Puget Sound 2-1 In Semifinal, Moves Win Away From Trip To Cocoa Beach, Fla.
The Spokane Shadow posted their first playoff soccer win Saturday night.
Zane Higgins’ goal with 7 minutes to play lifted the Shadow past the Puget Sound Hammers 2-1 before a crowd of 1,712 at Spokane Falls Community College.
Higgins scored when Kieran Barton’s shot off the right post landed at the feet of Higgins, who slipped it into the corner for the game-winner.
“I was real surprised. Kieran hit it off the post; I thought it was going in,” said Higgins, who sat out the first 70 minutes because of an old injury. “I was kind of lucky. I was in the right place at the right time.”
In the second semifinal of the Western Conference Northern Division playoffs for the USISL Premier League, the San Francisco Bay Seals beat the Pikes Peak Stampede 2-1. The match was a repeat of last year’s Western championship, won by San Francisco 1-0.
Spokane and San Francisco play at 6 p.m. today at SFCC, with the winner advancing to the USISL Premier League finals in Cocoa Beach, Fla., next weekend. San Francisco finished third at the finals in Richmond, Va., last year.
After a ragged first half, Spokane got on the board with just more than 27 minutes left. Stuart Saunders sent a long pass to Jim Martinson in the Hammers’ end. Martinson was taken out of the play, but Chad Brown managed to pick up the loose ball.
Waiting patiently, Brown drew the defense, then threaded the ball to Tim Seely. Seely scored his fourth goal of the year - and first since June 1 - by sending a low shot past Hammers keeper Chuck Granade.
It was 7 minutes later when Ian Russell tied the match. A long kick from Granade made it to the Spokane 18-yard line and wasn’t cleared. Nick Kalafatich fielded the loose ball and, as the defense converged, slipped it to Russell, who beat Bill May to his right.
“There are two mistakes on every goal, I think,” May said. “I could have come out and ended right there (when Kalafatich got the ball) and whoever went up for the (header) could have cleared it.”
Both teams responded well when the other team scored. “This season we’ve been behind so many times … you just go … put it back in the net,” Saunders said.
Despite an 11-9 record, Puget Sound had a 2-1 mark against Spokane during the regular season, handing the Shadow their lone home loss. The Shadow are 18-3.
There were few good chances for either team in a scoreless first half. Kyle Godat of the Hammers just missed from in front of the goal 7 minutes in and then shot over the goal soon after.
Just past 30 minutes, the Shadow had a free kick from the edge of the keeper box, but Dave Berto couldn’t thread the ball through the masses. With 2 minutes to play in the half, Seely slipped the ball through to Berto from 18 yards and his kick over the charging keeper carried over the goal.
“In the first half we weren’t finding our forwards with good balls,” Spokane coach Einar Thorarinsson said. “The runs were too shallow. They play a very extended defense. We feel we could beat them with runs down the side but we couldn’t make the change before the half.”
It didn’t help that Higgins, the leading scorer, was out because of a 3-week-old foot injury and an ankle he twisted a week ago.
“At the start of the game it wasn’t one person making mistakes, it was the whole team,” Higgins said. “Everyone seemed nervous.”
Joe Ascolese, who just graduated from Gonzaga Prep, started for Higgins. Higgins entered the game a minute after the Shadow scored their first. Seely started for midfielder Ryan Edwards, who was red-carded last match. Seely had been out with an injury, which forced Brown inside at midfield.
“You have to have more composure,” said Brown, who set up Barton for the shot that rang the post. “I’m not used to playing with my back to the goal.”
Martinson is doubtful for today’s match after injuring his right ankle following the first Shadow goal.
Seals 2, Stampede 1
Troya Cowell and Marco Bonaccorsi scored in the first half as San Francisco Bay held on to edge Pikes Peak.
Cowell scored at the 7-minute mark and Bonaccorsi beat Mike LaBerge, who had a 0.62 goals against average during the regular season, in the 30th minute.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)
MEMO: Playoffs today The Spokane Shadow take on the San Francisco Bay Seals, a 2-1 winner over the Pikes Peak Stampede, at 6 p.m. today at Spokane Falls Community College.