Spokane Zephyr FC made the most of its final home match of the fall schedule, edging out a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay Sun FC on Sunday at ONE Spokane Stadium.
The victory propelled Zephyr (2-3-3) from last place to No. 6 on the table, while the Sun (2-3-3) fell one spot to No. 7. With both teams holding identical records, the tiebreaker comes down to head-to-head points earned, and Spokane’s three-point result over Tampa Bay served as the deciding factor.
“It feels like our work has finally paid off,” said Zephyr defender Haley Thomas. “Obviously, we still have work to do, but we’ve been battling. We’ve had some tough, either losses or ties, where we feel like we lost some points that we could have had, and so I feel like today was definitely a rewarding feeling.”
After a sluggish first half where Zephyr struggled to control the ball and only maintained a 36.2% possession rate, they ramped up the intensity on both ends of the pitch to start the second half.
In the 59th minute, Spokane’s Sydney Cummings picked up a foul, which led to some heated physicality from both sides during the set up of Tampa Bay’s free kick.
As the tension increased, Spokane was able to respond on its end of the pitch by creating some physicality and drawing a foul from Tampa Bay’s Jade Moore in the 63rd minute, setting up a free kick for Spokane’s Sarah Clark.
Clark’s initial set piece kick deflected off a Tampa Bay defender and sailed to the top of the box, where Marley Canales launched a right-footed strike straight to the back of the net to give Spokane its first goal. This was also Canales’ first goal of the season.
“I just did my role, and was at the right place at the right time,” Canales said of the moment. “I feel like I’ve been coming close to finishing, and … I’ve loved this club since day one, so I’m super happy that I could work to get this team three points that we deserved.”
Spokane was able to increase its intensity on the defensive end as well in the second half, holding Tampa Bay to only four shots during that span, with three of them being on target.
As a team, Zephyr had 18 tackles with a 72.2% tackle success rate, along with a total of 21 clearances on the defensive end.
In her Zephyr debut, goalkeeper Hope Hisey recorded a clean sheet with six saves throughout the match, helping keep the Sun off the scoreboard.
“The coaches told me I was going to start this game, and I was able to go out there and do it because my teammates have instilled a lot of confidence in me,” Hisey said. “I’ve just focused on being the best person in the locker room that I can be, and just waiting and being prepared for that opportunity.”
The club will be heading to the Big Apple for Halloween to play Brooklyn FC on Thursday, Oct. 31, marking the start of a six-match road trip to end the fall schedule. Brooklyn FC is second in the league standings with a record of 5-3-2. The match is set to start at 4:30 p.m. PDT and will be available to stream on Peacock.
Zephyr hosted Brooklyn on Sept. 8, with the two clubs playing to a 1-1 draw after the visitors scored the equalizer on a penalty kick in the 87th minute.
“They like to play possession like we do,” said Zephyr head coach Jo Johnson. “I wish we would have got three points at home against them, but it’ll be a good matchup. And I’m excited to see them.”
ONE Spokane Stadium won’t host another match until Saturday, March 8, following the club’s winter break, when Zephyr takes on Caroline Ascent FC.
