South Sound and Spokane produce first tie in league history

LAKEWOOD, WA— (Shadow release) Facing the 3-0-0 South Sound Shock, the Spokane Shadow came away with a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon in Tacoma, Wash. at Harry Lang Stadium courtesy of a tap-in goal from Nick Hamer with six minutes remaining.

Elliot Fauske (left) stands next to Shadow guest player Ciaran O'brien. (David Falk) — Elliot Fauske (left) stands next to Shadow guest player Ciaran O’brien. (David Falk)

The fourteenth match played in EPLWA history is officially the first-ever tie for the new league.

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The home side took the initial lead in the 30th minute of the contest when Micah Wenzel found Danny Minetti on the left side. Minetti curled his shot across the goal and into the far corner from a sharp angle about 15 yards out.

In the 84th minute the Shadow took advantage of the wet conditions created by a downpour in the final 20 minutes of the first half on the equalizing effort. South Sound goalkeeper Chris Kintz bobbled the ball in the box, allowing Hamer to poke it into the left corner of the goal from just a few feet out.

The Shock prepare for battle. (David Falk)

The Shock looked to take advantage of a Shadow squad that played the night before in a 3-0 victory at WestSound and had several early chances. An offside call negated what they thought might have been their opening tally in the first 10 minutes and a nice play by Adrian Rubio finished with a shot just wide of the target moments later.

Shortly after the South Sound opener, Daniel Gray nearly doubled the lead for the hosts with a chip shot, but Shadow netminder Cody Lang parried it over the bar.

The Shadow came out in the second half with a little more action in the offensive end looking to earn at least a point, but it was South Sound that had the best chance of the half – prior to the Shadow goal – in the 72nd minute when a ball was crossed in and knocked away by Lang. The clearance, however, went directly to a Shock player who headed it back toward the open goal only to see Elliot Fauske clear it off the line with a header of his own.

The Shadow take cover during a downpour in the first half. (David Falk)

Both sides finished fairly even statistically with the Shadow posting seven shots to the Shock’s six and each keeper making five saves.

The Shadow next play in Wenatchee on May 24. South Sound hosts Vancouver on the 24th.

Scoring Summary

Spokane Shadow 1-1 South Sound FC
SS: Danny Minetti (Micah Wenzel) 30
SPO: Nick Hamer 84

Lineup
Spokane – Starters: Cody Lang; Aaron Jeffery, Andrew Newman, Christian Botuli, Colin Shockman; Dustin Ferger, Elliot Fauske, Nick Hamer, Ciaran O’Brien, Devin Leon; Mike Ramos

Attendance – 145

Photo: David Falk / EPLWA.com

The tense battle between rising squads ended in the league's first-ever tie. (David Falk) — The tense battle between rising squads ended in the league’s first-ever tie. (David Falk)

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