Spokane Zephyr’s tie with Fort Lauderdale ends inaugural season in heartbreak

The Spokane Zephyr had an unforgettable inaugural Super League season.

With only two wins at the end of the fall, the Zephyr, rallied during the winter break and emerged as a true playoff contender.

“It’s no secret we dug ourselves a hole in the fall, but I think the shift that this team brought in the spring, the mentality, the effort,” said Taylor Aylmer. “That’s something to be proud of.”

They entered their final match tied with Fort Lauderdale with 41 points in fourth place.

Spokane and Fort Lauderdale traded first-half goals as they played to a 1-1 draw at ONE Spokane Stadium on Saturday.

A win or a tie would have given Spokane a postseason bid had Dallas – who had 40 points – lost to Carolina. But in the middle of Spokane’s match, Dallas completed a shutout against the top team in the league 2-0, making the Zephyr’s game a must-win.

Spokane conceded a goal in the eighth minute off a left-footed shot from Sh’Nia Gordon inside the penalty box.

But two minutes later, Spokane’s Ally Cook leveled the game 1-1.

In the 10th minute, Emma Jaskaniec passed to Cook near the top of the penalty area. Cook fought off two defenders as she hooked a right-footed shot that curled to the top-right corner of the frame.

The Zephyr ramped up its offensive aggression and tallied 13 shot attempts with nine in the box and seven on target. But Fort Lauderdale held on as they cleared the ball away 23 times.

In added time, Emina Ekic, who led the team with ten goals on the season, posted five shot attempts including a last-ditch effort that was denied by Fort Lauderdale’s goalkeeper Cossette Morche.

Because Fort Lauderdale had the advantage in head-to-head matchups, the tiebreaker for end-of-season standings, Spokane was eliminated, abruptly ending their season.

“To walk away and just fall a little short, it’s gonna sting for a while, but I don’t think we should be remiss of what this group accomplished the second half of the season,” Aylmer said.

“I think we gave it our all, and I think everyone could see that, so it’s a disappointing end,” Ekic said. “When you empty the tank and still have defeat, but like Tay said, for a first year, we’ve come so far and we’ve accomplished so much, so from here, it’s just building onto the next season.”

While the year might have ended in heartbreak, Spokane still found success during its first season.

“Our goal was to get into playoffs, and we gave ourselves a fighting chance. So, proud of this team and how they’ve trusted the process, and really just built a foundation of culture, what we wanted to build here in Spokane,” said head coach Jo Johnson, who is leaving the team after this season.