Short-Handed Shadow Prevail
The Spokane Shadow’s roster was smaller than usual for Saturday night’s soccer game.
But they still came up big, beating the Seattle Sounders Selects 4-1 before 1,403 at Albi Stadium.
“We’ve got players throughout the roster who can play. When called upon they need to play and they did tonight,” said Shadow coach Sean Bushey, whose first-place team improved to 7-1 overall, 3-1 in the USL Premier League Northwest Division.
Midfielder Chad Brown scored two goals and forward Jeff Rose added a goal and an assist in a game that was one-sided from early on. The two are veteran starters on the squad, but many other starters - six in all - were absent.
Midfielder Mark Hogenhout, the team’s leading scorer with four goals and eight points, and reserve Kris Hollingshead, had car problems on their way back from Seattle. Brian Ching, the second-leading scorer, is home in Hawaii. Other scoring threats Zane Higgins and Troy Ready are injured.
Spokane did add forward Jeff McAllister to its roster. The former West Coast Conference player of the year from Gonzaga University arrived this week after trying out on different European teams.
The Sounders (4-4, 1-3) had even fewer players to choose from. Four key players were attending the funeral of a high-school friend who had died in a car accident. The short bench and tragedy seemed to affect them, as they never gave Spokane much of a game.
Spokane had 17 shots on goal to Seattle’s six. Shadow keeper Brian Mullen had two saves while James Dickenson of the Sounders was kept busy all night, saving five shots.
The Shadow struck early, scoring 3 minutes into the game when Craig Hampton found Rose, who drilled one past Dickenson to the near post.
At 21 minutes, Rose got off a clean pass to Brown, who scored from the top of the box.
The Sounders cut the lead to 2-1 at the 27th minute when Jamie Bloomstine scored an unassisted goal on a play set up by a throw-in. It was only the fourth goal against Mullen in seven games.
The visitors blew the chance to tie the game before halftime when Dayo Oyetuga’s shot hit the far post. Mullen fell down on the play, leaving the cage wide open.
Spokane had almost all the luck.
At the 50th minute, Brown scored his second goal of the game and the season when his free kick from 30 yards out skipped through Dickenson’s hands.
“The third goal we gave up sort of killed us and changed the game,” Sounders coach Paul Hurme said. “You give up that goal, you give up a goal with 3 minutes into the game that’s not a good way to start.”
The Shadow added to its lead when Abbas Faridnia beat two defenders and put a shot past Dickenson at 65 minutes. It was the Ferris graduate’s second goal of the season.