Spokane Zephyr earn first win since October against Fort Lauderdale

In its last five games, the Spokane Zephyr had suffered four losses, and one draw.

After a one-week break, Spokane returned to USL Super League play, and looked like the team head coach Nicole Lukic and the Zephyr have hoped they could become heading into their midseason break. 

Spokane secured its first victory since early October – Lukic’s second at the helm – in a 3-1 win over Fort Lauderdale United at Beyond Bancard Field in Davie, Florida, on Saturday. 

In a dominant first half, Spokane played complementary soccer. Its defense held the 2024 Super League runner-up to just one shot, while its offense, led by Cameron Tucker and Felicia Knox, scored two goals on 10 shots. 

It also controlled the ball with 51.4% possession in the first 45 minutes. 

The Zephyr put the pressure on Fort Lauderdale’s defense early, and after creating multiple chances in the first few minutes, was rewarded with a goal from Tucker in the fifth minute. 

Goalkeeper Bella Hara and Fort Lauderdale defender Sh’nia Gordon exchanged the ball a couple times, but in the middle of a pass, Tucker bolted from the left side, and attempted to steal the ball from Hara, who dove on the ground to snatch it back. But as Hara laid on the pitch, Silano seized the ball, and almost took a shot. Instead, she fed the ball back to Tucker at the top of the box, and Tucker fired it into the empty net for her first goal of the season. 

Then, in the 15th minute, Gonzaga grad Sophia Braun nearly cushioned the lead with a shot that missed to the right side of the frame. 

In the 32nd minute, Silano sent a shot a few feet to the left of the net, after she intercepted a pass and muscled her way to the penalty area. 

Just before the half, Felicia Knox notched her first goal of the season against her former team from the middle of the box, providing Spokane its second score – the first time the Zephyr have scored more than one goal in a single game since Oct. 12. 

In a wild second period full of fouls, Spokane lost defender Ginger Fontenot after she earned her second yellow card immediately after Silano converted her fourth goal of the season, and the Zephyr’s third of the night in the 68th minute. 

At the 53-minute mark, Fort Lauderdale nearly pulled one back after Stella Nyamekye curled the ball into the net off a corner kick, but Kiara Locklear was called for impeding Hope Hisey, and the shot was nullified. 

After Fontenot was ejected in the 69th minute, Fort Lauderdale took advantage, and spoiled the Zephyr’s clean sheet hopes. Locklear received a lead pass and sprinted to the penalty area and scored on the fast break. 

The Zephyr’s defense faltered in the final 45 minutes and allowed 16 shots in the second half, but their 28 clearances and nine interceptions, held Fort Lauderdale to three of 18 shots on target. 

In addition to her goal and assist, Silano recorded two tackles, one clearance, and one interception. Reese Tappan led Spokane’s defense with 11 clearances and a 79.2% passing accuracy rate. 

Hope Hisey had two saves. 

“I have chills for this group. I think the effort from the back to the front has just been relentless and I think we got rewarded today. And I am super proud of the group,” Silano said in a postgame interview on Peacock. 

“How can you not be confident? I think this is just such an amazing game that we just left off on. And we were down a player, and it just shows that we have so much grit and relentless attitude, and I can see us building off on this.”