Five Standouts Return for Spokane Shadow’s 2023 Season

Monday, April 17, 2023

The Spokane Shadow Men’s First Team programs returns to play in 2023 as members of the Evergreen Premier League and Cascadia Premier League with some familiarity to its rich local roots. In a reunion with head coach Mike Pellicio as head coach, the program will welcome back five players from their 2018 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) Northwest Conference championship season.

Jesse Retan, a 2019 NPSL All-Conference selection in the midfield, will return as club captain. Retan played as a youth player for Spokane Shadow before wrapping up his intercollegiate career at Whitworth University. He is the Boys Director of Coaching with the Spokane Sounders and will be the most readily recognizable player to experienced, senior-level players in the northwest circuit, having played for the Men’s First Team regularly since it returned in 2014.

Tanner Williams is another All-Conference and All-Western Region selection from the Shadow’s NPSL past who will return in the midfield and up top. Williams is a product of Sandpoint, Idaho, and has played at Concordia University, Evergreen State College and professionally in Latvia with FC Jurineks. He will serve as the club’s vice captain, as he did in 2019.

Nick Hamer, the current Cheney High School boy’s head coach, will patrol the midfield again for Spokane Shadow as he has many times in the past. Hamer, a youth product of the club and Mead High School, was named West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Year with Gonzaga along with being honored to the WCC All-Conference team four times. He is also a tremendously familiar player in the northwest, having played for the Seattle Sounders 2 (now the Tacoma Defiance) as well as the Kitsap Pumas.

Chase Reidt will come back as a club product who played for both Spokane Sounders and FC Spokane, as well as Central Valley High School, Spokane Falls Community College and Whitworth University. Reidt’s contributions in the midfield and up top will be crucial as he’s scored more important goals in Shadow colors than anyone else in the current team.

Noah Whitman, a product of Central Valley High School, rounds out our returners from the 2018 championship season. Whitman can play in any position on the field comfortably, as he has before with the First Team as well as the University of Washington, where he played for three seasons with one of the most competitive programs in NCAA Division I soccer.

“I’m so thrilled to have these five players back with the Men’s First Team,” said Mike Pellicio. “I ask a lot of my players in terms of responsibility on and off the field, and these guys are perfect examples of what is required to be a part of this program across multiple seasons. Not too many players are willing or able to continue competing at a high level past a certain age and that love for the game is infectious for players to be around. I couldn’t be happier to spend my time with these guys this season.”

The Spokane Shadow Men’s First Team will be kicking off their season in the Evergreen Premier League (EPLWA) and the Cascadia Premier League on May 13, hosting Wenatchee All-Stars – attendance will be free of charge. If you’d like to inquire about corporate sponsorship, there are many levels available. Please contact mike@spoakanesc.org for interest.

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