Ching Puts Another Mark On Honor Roll In Usisl Shadow Player On Team Of Week For Fourth Time

Brian Ching is on a roll, and in return the honors continue to roll in for the Spokane Shadow forward.

For the fourth time this season, the 20-year-old from Gonzaga University was named to the USISL Premier League team of the week. In last week’s sweep of the Okanagan Challenge and the Cascade Surge, Ching had three goals and two assists as the first-place Shadow improved to 6-1 in the Northwest Division and 8-4 overall.

But it hasn’t been all Ching, who has 20 points in league games. Simeon Enemuo and Jeff McAllister have 12 points apiece, and Kieran Barton has 11.

The Shadow offense has been explosive, scoring 33 goals in league games this season compared to 37 for all of last season. Defensively, keeper Josh Fouts is allowing 1.00 goals per game, which ties him for third in the USISL.

The Shadow carries a three-game winning streak into this weekend’s doubleheader, which begins tonight at 7:05 in Albi Stadium against the Seattle BigFoot (5-2, 7-4). The team will take a 7-hour van ride to Salem, Ore., Saturday, where it will play the Cascade Surge (4-4, 6-6).

In previous meetings this year, Spokane lost to the BigFoot 2-1 in a U.S. Open qualifying game and came back to beat them 4-2 during the regular season. The Shadow defeated the Surge twice this year, as recently as last Saturday’s 6-0 rout.

“We’re just working on staying consistent,” Shadow coach Sean Bushey said. “Puget Sound will be a different team. They were missing a lot of players before.”

Cascade, meanwhile, was missing a top scorer last week, but Bushey expects that will change Saturday night.

The Shadow will be at full strength for the first time in more than one month. Third-year midfielder Chad Brown, selected to play in an Adidas summer league program in Hartford, Conn., was back at practice Thursday.