Shadow Blank FCM Portland 2-0, Now Second

Saturday, June 8, 2019

A goal created and another scored by Mike Ramos Saturday night led the Spokane Shadow Men’s First Team to a 2-0 victory over second place FCM Portland in a key match-up in the race for the two berths out of the NPSL Northwest Conference.

The Shadow had a few early chances, including one about 10 minutes into the contest from long range by Mike Rojas, but it was a great strike from Mike Ramos in the 36th minute that gave Spokane the lead as lightning was threatening to halt the affair. His effort off of a nice little combination play up the middle from about 24 yards just off the right side of the arc rebounded away from the diving goalkeeper and Hakeem Rabiu popped in from the left to knock it home for the opener.

The storm, though, settled and the match continued. Just moments after the intermission Ramos jumped onto a bad back pass by the FCM defense and doubled the lead in the opening minute of the second half.

Both sides had several opportunities as the contest wore on, but goalkeeper Bryan Hernandez did well to maintain the shutout for Spokane with a few key stops and a little fortune came his way with 11 minutes remaining when a shot from FCM’s Alcides Thomas fired a shot from about 19 yards on the left that caromed off the top of the crossbar.

The result evened Spokane’s record at 3-3-1, jumping into second via tiebreakers with three more home games remaining on the slate. The Shadow play host to youth rival Crossfire next Saturday at 1:00 at the Spokane Shadow Polo Grounds.

Sponsors: The Spokane Shadow Men’s First Teams program is proud to be supported by MultiCare Integrated Sports Medicine, adidas, Dairy Queen of Airway Heights, RH Cooke & Associates Real Estate, Prime Lending and Wolff, Hislop & Crockett Attorneys. If you are interested in becoming a supporting sponsor, please contact Nick Piger at nickp@spokanesc.org

NPSL NW Conference Standings
Crossfire Redmond 6-1-0… 18 points
Spokane Shadow 3-3-1… 10 pts
FCM Portland 3-2-1… 10 pts
OSA Seattle 3-3-0… 9 pts
PDX FC 0-6-0… 0 pts

Also This Weekend (Away / Home)…
PDX FC 2-4 Crossfire Redmond
Tomorrow: PDX FC @ OSA Seattle FC

Match Summary
SPO: Hakeem Rabiu 36
SPO: Mike Ramos 46
Shutout – Bryan Hernandez
Lineups
Spokane: Bryan Hernandez; Ty Lang, Tanner French, Ole Cloppenburg, Chase Howat (Bryan Maxwell); Jesse Retan, Tanner Williams (Jay Weinman), Nick Hamer; Mike Rojas, Hakeem Rabiu (Jake Levine, Enzo Nalis), Mike Ramos (Devin Hauenstein)
Portland: Alcazar Polvos, Jose Bautista, Ryan Callahan, Brandon McCurtain, Evans Omani, Peter Prescott, Javier Sanchez Figueroa, Alcides Thomas, Leyton Thommasen, Christian Thyron, Alex White

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