Second-Half Surge Carries Shadow To Victory

The Spokane Shadow kept it close in the first half Saturday evening then put the game out of reach with four easy goals in the second half for a 5-1 soccer victory over the Willamette Valley Firebirds.

Because their victory included more than three goals, the Shadow inched one point ahead of Abbotsford and into third place in the Northwest Premier Development League. Abbotsford lost to Cascade 3-0 Friday night.

With only 11 players suiting up for the Firebirds, Spokane took advantage of a rather tired opponent in the second half.

“They didn’t have any subs,” said Zane Higgins, who scored two goals for the Shadow. “It kind of slowed them down.”

If having no extra players to employ as substitutes wasn’t bad enough, the Firebirds were coming off of a 9-0 defeat at the hands of Yakima on Friday night.

“We knew they were kind of down,” Higgins said. “We pressured them hard.”

Spokane’s first goal, by Garth Cummings with assistance from Higgins, put the Shadow in front about midway through the first half.

Higgins dribbled into the box near the far corner and attempted to drive past Willamette Valley goalkeeper Bryan Hill. Hill deflected the ball with both hands fully extended upright and sent it sailing over to the near side of the wide-open net, where Cummings easily knocked it in.

Willamette Valley focused almost completely on defense throughout the match, loading every player into the defensive side of the field. The Firebirds only had eight shots on goal compared to Spokane’s 15.

Higgins’ first goal of the game, Spokane’s second, was a good example of how much the Firebirds wanted to avoid another blowout.

It was one of the few times in the game when Higgins penetrated and was not mugged by two or more players. This time, only one player mugged him, but to no avail.

“Anytime we had a breakaway, they were grabbing and pulling on our jerseys,” Higgins said.

Higgins scored again 10 minutes later unassisted.

Brett Houck scored at the 71-minute mark with assistance from Tim Seely. The Shadow’s final goal was scored by Dustin Alberry with an assist by Evan Cummings in the 84th minute.

Willamette Valley’s Jack Wheeler put the final goal of the game past Spokane goalkeeper Brian Mullen, who was about 15 yards out from the net.

With about 17 minutes remaining in the game, Spokane’s Houck received his first yellow card after a collision with Willamette Valley’s Fred Kummernes. Kummernes lay on the ground holding his left shin for only a moment.

Ironically, Kummernes went down with a head injury in nearly the exact spot just after play began in the second half, but he remained in the game.

Houck received a second yellow card, 10 minutes after his first, after colliding with another Firebirds attacker.