Spokane Draws Division Rival Yakima In Playoff Opener Doubleheader At Albi Stadium Will Begin Soccer Postseason
Albi Stadium The coaches won’t have to fiddle with scouting reports or game film this week.
The Spokane Shadow and the Yakima Reds will play for the fifth time this season on Saturday when they meet in the Premier Development League’s Western Conference playoffs at Albi Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Shadow (11-4-3, 54 points) won two of their four matches against the top-seeded Reds (12-5-1, 60 points) in the PDL’s Northwest Division this summer.
They tied 2-2 on May 20, and Spokane lost 6-0 at Yakima on May 27 in the worst defeat in team history.
On June 17, Spokane won 1-0 on a late goal by Garth Cummings and the Shadow survived a 2-1 double-overtime match July 22 at Yakima.
“I suppose it’s nice because we are familiar with them, but at same time we’re familiar to them as well,” said Shadow coach Stuart Saunders. “They are a tough team to play because of the rivalry between us. We know they’ll come to play and we’ll have to come to play to do well against them.”
The first playoff match is at 6 p.m. Saturday featuring the No. 2 Colorado Comets (12-5-1, 56 points) against the No. 3 San Fernando Valley Heroes (11-7-0, 56 points). Saturday’s winners will play at 6 p.m. Sunday in the conference championship game for a berth to the PDL Final Four on Aug. 11-12 in Saginaw, Mich.
The Shadow, losers in the national finals last year, used a late-season surge to earn a wild-card berth in the playoffs. The top team from the PDL Western Conference’s three divisions - Northwest, Southwest and Rocky Mountain - made the playoffs, as well as the second-place team with the most points. Spokane finished as the top second-place team.
Yakima won the Northwest, San Fernando Valley the Southwest and Colorado the Rocky Mountain.
The Shadow faced a must-win situation Saturday in their regular-season finale against the Abbotsford 86ers at Albi, and won 4-3.
“Spokane has always been in the playoffs, so we had that going for us,” Saunders said. “The older guys brought that to the table and started pushing for it (playoffs), and the younger guys stepped up as well.
“Getting there is just an added bonus because of the fact we had such a different team this year.”
Yakima will be without three of its top scorers because all three play for the University of Washington, whose coach won’t allow them to participate in the playoffs.
Greg Foisie, Jake Sagare and Zach Kingsley (Shadle Park) combined for 40 of the Reds’ 60 goals.
“It’ll be different,” said Yakima coach Jeff Perry. “We played Spokane without them before in the 1-0 loss. We will just have a different look and we won’t have the punch we have had on the attack. We’ll have new faces up front and do the best we can.”
The Shadow’s Troy Ready, another UW player, also won’t play.
Defender Ryan Tracey re-injured a hamstring and is done for the season. He will return to Hartwick College in New York. North Central High School’s Filoman Afenegus should return to the lineup after sitting out with a hip injury.
Notes
Defender Bret Houck was named to the PDL’s team of the week for the second straight week. He had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-3 playoff-clinching win over Abbotsford. … Forward Zane Higgins, the team’s career leading scorer, was presented with a plaque Saturday as the fan’s choice player of the year. He has 14 goals and 9 assists. … Tickets for the Western Conference playoffs are available by calling 326-GOAL.