Speedy Adam Talley and the Shadow are on the move

Adam Talley is moving full speed ahead in the sport he loves. The next stop: Bellingham, where the former East Valley High star will play this fall at Western Washington University.
If speed kills, it also thrills – as Talley did again last weekend for the Spokane Shadow.
Tied 3-all in a must-win match against South South, the Shadow got a big lift in the 78th minute when Talley was taken down in the box. Moments later, he converted the resulting penalty kick to give Spokane a 4-3 win and keep the Shadow in contention to retain the Evergreen Premier League title it won last year.
“I just outpowered the defender, took it in the box, and he ended up fouling me,” said Talley, a two-sport star at East Valley who took his act to North Idaho College in the fall of 2013. Last year, he helped the Cardinals to a 17-2-2 record and second place in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.
He scored 20 goals last year, a school record. Talley also led the Cardinals in goals scored as a freshman, despite missing five games recovering from a concussion.
Talley is just one of several local players who made a big impact last weekend for the Shadow, who are 4-1-2 midway through the season going into tonight’s home match at Spokane Falls Community College against winless Bellingham United.
Karl Muelheims, who played at St. George’s and Whitworth, gave the Shadow an early 2-0 lead while defender Brad Ulen (Post Falls and NIC), saved the South Sound match in the waning moments when he headed a ball straight up off the line and into the crossbar to prevent a goal.
Ulen, a teammate of Talley’s at NIC, will join him this fall in Bellingham.
In the same match, Dustin Ferger (East Valley and Gonzaga) sent a ball into the box for midfielder Zach Hamer (Mead High and Gonzaga), who lifted the bouncing ball up over a charging keeper from 17 yards out.
Until last week’s goalfest, the Shadow had given up a league-low five goals. Now the tally is eight, just one more than the league-leading Vancouver Victory.
Whatever it takes, says Talley, whose three goals this season are matched by Muelheims and Sam Engle. Last year, Talley joined the Shadow – in its first season since a nine-year hiatus – and he has no regrets.
“All of our preparation is paying off – we’re getting better each week,” Talley said of the Shadow, who opened the season 1-1-1 but haven’t lost since.
Talley credits coach Chad Brown with “helping me moving off the ball and getting the ball to my feet.”
Talley’s speed does the rest, just as it did when he played running back for the EV football team. But soccer always was his first love, a game he’s played since he was 4 years old.
After the Shadow season ends, he’ll dash to Bellingham, where last year Western Washington barely missed a chance to reach the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in school history. The missing piece was offense, WWU coach Greg Brison told Talley during recruiting.
“They think the piece they’re missing is a goal-scorer,” Talley said.
“The speed has just always been there for me. You can’t really do anything to train for it. You just keep running,” Talley said.