Shadow’S First Defeat Trickles In

The Seattle Sounders Selects pushed a couple of soft goals past Spokane goalkeeper Trevor Yost Friday night in Renton Memorial Stadium and knocked off the Shadow 2-0 in the USL Premier League Western Conference soccer opener for both teams.

The win helped Seattle avenge an earlier 5-0 loss to the Shadow in U.S. Open Cup qualifying.

The Sounders Selects scored their first goal 8 minutes into the game when Chris Gradialla flicked a header to Joe Partridge, who beat Spokane defender Bret Houck one-on-one and surprised Yost with a weak shot that trickled just inside the right goal post.

Seattle scored again in the 83rd minute when Yost, in the process of grabbing up another weak shot by Daya Oyefuga, had the ball headed away and into the goal by Jamie Bloomstein.

The Shadow, despite playing the last 22 minutes short-handed after Dave Berto was given a red card, had several excellent scoring opportunities in the closing minutes but were unable to convert.

Yost finished with seven saves and Seattle goalkeeper Jonas Tanzer stopped four Shadow shots in a game that was more evenly contested than the final score indicated.

The Shadow return home for a 7:05 matchup tonight against the Abbotsford 86’s from Abbotsford, British Columbia. It will be Fireworks Night at Albi Stadium, with the fireworks scheduled to begin immediately following the match.

Friday’s loss was the first of the year for Spokane, which qualified for the first round of the Open Cup with a 4-0 record.