Undermanned Spiders rally to knock off Reds

Playing a man down for most of the entire game, the Spokane Spiders defeated the Yakima Reds 3-2 in a solid comeback win on a frigid Saturday night at Spokane Falls Community College.

The Spiders (2-4-1, 2-1) pulled ahead in the 82nd minute when forward Scott Davidson deflected a free kick across the mouth of the goal and Matt Miller headed the ball into the back of the net.

Spokane handed Yakima (5-1-1, 3-1-1) its first loss of the season and knocked it from the top of the Premier Development League’s Northwest Division.

Keith Realing was given a red card in the 27th minute for maliciously kicking the shins of Yakima midfielder Victor Calderon while Calderon attempted to head the ball to a teammate. It was a questionable call, but ended up giving the Spiders an opportunity to show the 680 fans in attendance their penchant for overcoming adversity.

“The red card was tough, but we came together as a team and pushed through it,” said Spiders midfielder Matt Friesen.

Spokane goalkeeper Scott Barnum had a tremendous game, stopping a number of shots from the speedy Yakima forwards. Barnum came up with a big save in the 88th minute to preserve the Spiders win by stopping a point-blank shot by Yakima forward Alvero Valencia.

Yakima goalie Brett Axelrod struggled in goal. Just past the hour mark in the game, Spokane forward Jay Vela lofted a shot from just over the half-field line catching Axelrod off his line. The goal tied the game at 1 and sparked new life into the Spiders.

In the 74th minute, Juan Viveros shot a low and hard screamer toward the goal. After deflecting off two Spiders defenders, the ball found the back of the net. The own goal was charged to defender Brian McMurdie and put the Reds ahead 2-1.

Axelrod was again caught out of position when Spokane midfielder Jesse Dunbar crossed in a ball on goal. Axelrod slipped and fell to the ground while the ball flew over his flailing hands into the back of the net for the Spiders second goal.

The game saw six yellow cards and one ejection. The referee called 13 fouls on Spokane in the first half alone.

“We were working on pure energy after that second goal,” said forward Scott Davidson. “We needed a big win this weekend after the poor start that we had.”

The Spiders take the field today for a match against Ogden (Utah) at 2 p.m. at Spokane Falls Community College.