Spokane Shadow begin quest for third straight EPL title
It’s debatable whether Spokane Shadow coach Chad Brown has a magic touch.
He certainly has the right touch, judging by the results and the players who’ve earned them during the past two years.
The Shadow are 2 for 2 since Brown came home in 2014 to coach the reborn franchise, winning a pair of Evergreen Premier League titles with some of the same players who are chasing a third.
The chase continues with Saturday’s EPL home opener against Vancouver. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Spokane Falls Community College.
“It’s a great group of guys who love the game and love to play for Chad,” said Jesse Retan, a 28-year-old midfielder from Cheney who also played at Whitworth.
The feeling is mutual. “It’s a challenge, but it’s fun,” said Brown, a former prep star at Central Valley who was a fixture with the Shadow in the 1990s before coaching at Fresno State, Nevada-Las Vegas and West Virginia.
The challenging part is hitting the reset button every spring with an ever-shifting roster of former and current college players, plus a few high school players.
“The first couple of weeks is tough, with guys getting home from graduation or from outside – logistics that are out of our control,” the 40-year-old Brown said.
It hasn’t taken Brown long to take control. Both championship seasons followed the same path: a slow start, including some home losses, followed by an ever-tightening defense that sparked a runaway finish.
And not a single loss on the road – in two full years.
“We have that road warrior mentality, but we also focus on one game at a time, and ultimately that brings a lot of success,” Retan said as the Shadow practiced Tuesday night at Andrew Rypien Field on Spokane’s north side.
It starts in practice – a fact that the younger generation is learning already. “It’s physically demanding,” said J.D. Hauenstein, who also plays for Central Valley High School and will compete this fall at Montana State-Billings.
“He (Brown) is on you, so you have to show up at every practice mentally and physically prepared,” Hauenstein said.
The payoff has been impressive.
In 2014, the Shadow went 10-2-2 with a plus-25 goal differential. Last year, they did even better: After a 2-1-2 start, they notched nine straight wins to run away with the league title.
It starts with defense – Brown’s teams have conceded just 24 goals in 28 matches – but also with players whom he describse as “very technical, with the ability to attack and break teams down quickly.”
This year’s team promises to offer more of the same.
“It’s a good mix of soccer players and athletic guys, plus a good mix of younger and older – for me that’s been the recipe the last two years, and I think we’re in that realm again,” Brown said.
Among the familiar faces on this year’s roster are Dustin Ferger, David Starkovich, Kazuki Tateishi, Sam Engle and Spencer Wolfe.
Also on the squad will be former Gonzaga midfielder Zack Hamer, who returns for his second season; and the young attacking duo of Hauenstein, the Shadow youth standout and 2015 GSL MVP, and former Shadow youth and Community Colleges of Spokane star Jonathan Cortez.
More players will be added later in the season.
Saturday’s game will be the first of several doubleheaders with the new Shadow women’s team.
Ticket prices are $10 (good for both games) for adults and $7 for Youth (15 and under). Students and amily with school ID or sports pass can get in for $5 (half off adult price) as part of the Shadow’s Super Soccer Saturday promotion that includes high school playoff games.