Spokane Shadow Prepare for WPSL Debut Season

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The community’s premier women’s sports team Spokane Shadow Women unveiled many of the season details today for team’s first season in the Women’s Premier Soccer League. The team revealed the home and away schedule, additional coaching staff, initial players, the new Supporters Club and that Northern Capital Management is presenting free admission for the Shadow Women’s First Team WPSL games this season.

WPSL Free Admission / Community Support

Courtesy of Northern Capital Management, the leading sponsor for the Women’s First Team, all of the regular season WPSL Spokane Shadow matches will be free for attending fans. NCM is the first of many new area businesses and organizations supporting the women’s team this year. They are joined by:

MultiCare Rockwood Integrated Sports Medicine
Clearwater Summit Group
Lyte Balance
BECU
Spokane Sports Commission

“We are thrilled to be supporting the Shadow as they embark on tackling national competition in the WPSL,” said NCM President and CEO Jim Wilson. “One of my biggest desires in supporting this venture was to make the Shadow – Spokane’s highest level women’s team – a community-oriented program that inspires kids and women throughout the region, and access to see these role models in person is a major part of that, especially in a World Cup summer.”

Spokane Shadow Supporters Club

Launching in 2019 to support the First Teams program is the Spokane Shadow Supporters Club, a new group for the dedicated fans with a passion to support up-and-coming players and the community’s elite teams. For a $100 donation, Supporters Club members will receive:

– Two exclusively-designed t-shirts
– Website recognition
– Social media recognition
– Group Photo with teams
– Free hot dogs for WPSL & NPSL Opening Nights & other perks!

Show Your Support – Sign Up Here [+]

The Schedule

The Shadow kick off their debut season in the WPSL at home May 18 when they host Vancouver Island FC at noon at the team’s home pitch, Spokane Falls CC Stadium. The match, the first-ever against a Canadian opponent for the Shadow Women, is the first of four at home with the second game coming nearly a month later against ISC Gunners June 16. A week later the Shadow will host a pair of Timbers affiliates when the Oregon duo of Eugene Timbers FC Azul and Westside Timbers visit June 22 and 23. The ladies will only hit the road twice during the season, doubling up on contests during both. The first is a trip to face the Seattle Sounders Women May 31 followed by a trek the next day north of the border to meet TSS Rovers of Vancouver. The second trip will wrap up the regular season campaign as they visit OSA FC and PacNW Women on the west side June 29 and 30. The postseason will take place in July.

HOME GAMES – Spokane Falls CC Stadium
Sat, May 18 vs Vancouver Island FC – 12:00
Sun, June 16 vs ISC Gunners FC – 2:00
Sat, June 22 vs Eugene Timbers Azul – 2:00
Sun, June 23 vs Westside Timbers – 2:00

AWAY GAMES
Fri, May 31 @ Sounders Women
Sat, June 1 @ TSS Rovers (Vancouver BC)
Sat, June 29 @ OSA
Sun, June 30 @ PacNW

Shadow Coaching Staff

In addition to Kevin Moon returning as head coach for the Shadow, the team is pleased to welcome former Whitworth coach Daman Hagerott, Spokane Sounders club coach Robyn O’Connor and former Gonzaga University goalkeeping coach Vito Higgins to the family as the assistant coaches for 2019.

“I am so happy to have Daman, Vito and Robyn involved this season,” said head coach Kevin Moon. “Daman and I have worked together at the collegiate level for many years and he helped with our Women’s Team during our time in NWPL. His knowledge of the game is unsurpassed and I am grateful that he agreed to return to help again this season! Robyn and I have worked together at the Spokane Sounders Youth Club and she has been exceptionally impressive to me in her dedication to and interactions with her players. She is going to give us valuable insights and perspectives and I am looking forward to having her involved this summer! Vito and I have worked together various soccer projects over the years and his involvement is going to provide our goalkeepers with daily goalkeeper specific training! He is an exceptional goalkeeping coach and I am so thankful that he has agreed to be a part of our program!”

Daman Hagerott returns as an assistant for the ladies once again. He previously served as Whitworth’s head coach on two occasions, guiding the Pirates from 1993-97 and again in 2009-2010, stepping down on the first occasion to pursue a doctoral degree and the second time to focus on his teaching responsibilities at the university. He continued to aid the program as an assistant on both occasions, though he took a sabbatical in 2000-01 to study at Gonzaga, where he briefly also served as an assistant for the GU women’s program.

His coaching experience is also highlighted by a previous stint as a Shadow men’s assistant coach, serving the role for the men’s team in its formative years from 1995-97 in the Premier Development League as well as recently for the relaunched men’s side.

The former Seattle Pacific University player (member of the program’s 1978 NCAA DII championship side) began his coaching career at the high school level with an assistant role at Kent-Meridian. His head coaching roles then followed at Federal Way, Kent-Meridian, Riverside, Pacific Lutheran University (1983) and Sterling College, where he was named KCAC Coach of the Year. His experience in Spokane began in 1992 at University High School, where he was GSL Coach of the Year twice.

O’Connor is a Cheney High School product that was a four-year starter at Washington State University from 1991-94, earning a Second Team All-Regional selection and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 during her career. Shortly after her playing career she spent two seasons with the team as an assistant and later coached at Cheney HS from 2002-2012. She has been a coach with the club for several years and currently coaches the Spokane Sounders G07 City Shale, G06 Shale and G05 Shale.

Rounding out the staff is longtime Gonzaga University assistant and goalkeeping coach Vito Higgins. As a player, the Hawaiian was one of the program’s all-time best keepers. After a brief stint after graduation with Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy in 2008 he returned to Spokane to join the coaching staff, where he remained until 2019 before leaving the post. He currently serves as Director of Goalkeeper Coaching for Timbers-Thorns North FC in Coeur d’Alene.

Head Coach: Kevin Moon
Assistant Coaches: Daman Hagerott, Robyn O’Connor & Vito Higgins
Athletic Trainers: Provided by MultiCare Rockwood Integrated Sports Medicine

Shadow Players

While many of the players will be announced over the coming weeks and as they join the team during the season, the team is excited to announce that local standout Megan Lindsay will be returning to the team for the 2019 campaign. Lindsay, a former professional that has spent time playing in Europe, was a dominant force for the team during its first season in the regional Northwest Women’s Premier League in 2016. She handily won the league’s Golden Boot with 16 goals with the next two highest – Sarah Cox (13) and Tiara Pittman-Thomas (9) – also playing for the Shadow.

One of the up-and-coming players that will on the squad is AJ Crooks, a recent graduate of Central Valley that left school early to join the University of Alabama, where she was able to get an initial taste of the school and program this spring. A product of the club, the young keeper is returning to competitive action for the first time following a knee injury that sidelined her for the past year. A US Soccer prospect, Crooks previously played both seasons with the team in the NWPL.

Larkin Russell, another local standout and club product, is returning for more action with the team this summer. Heading into her senior season at Portland next fall, she has started in all 56 appearances for the storied Pilots program and has seven goals.

Joining the team for the first time this summer will be Boise, Idaho product Grace Hancock, who has been a consistent presence in the back line for Washington State, starting in all 62 appearances over her freshman, junior and senior seasons with injury altering her sophomore campaign. The Cougars reached the NCAA tournament in each of those three seasons.

Megan Lindsay – Forward – Seattle Pacific University / Gonzaga Prep
AJ Crooks – Goalkeeper – Alabama / Central Valley
Larkin Russell – Midfielder – Portland / Gonzaga Prep
Grace Hancock – Defender – Washington State / Boise HS
Plus players TBA from Gonzaga, Idaho, Whitworth, Seattle U, CC Spokane and more
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The WPSL is in its 22nd season and is the largest women’s soccer league in the world with more than 100 clubs from coast-to-coast. WPSL rosters feature elite collegiate, post-collegiate, international and standout prep student-athletes. Many of the United States’ most accomplished women’s players have played in the WPSL, including household names such as Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain.

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