No Shadow Of A Doubt: Soccer Team Will Be Better

Einar Thorarinsson hasn’t written his lineup in ink, but he knows the second edition of the Spokane Shadow will be better than the first.

“The one year of experience says a lot,” the coach of Spokane’s USISL soccer team said.

The Shadow went 4-8 last year as a part-time participant in the United States Interregional Soccer League. The team has stepped up to full-time status in the Western Premier Division.

The season opens Saturday with an exhibition game against the Seattle Sounders at Spokane Falls Community College beginning at 7 p.m.

Thorarinsson, who also is the coach at Gonzaga University, has eight new players on his 21 man roster but expects three or four more players to try out once the college season ends.

“It’s a transition team,” he said. “You don’t know who is there until the complete roster is set, then we can practice as a complete team.”

However, he added, the team is working as if this is the final roster.

Heading the list of newcomers is midfielder Kieran Barton, a former Whitworth player who played for the Sounders. The Sounders won the A-League championship last year, the highest level of soccer in the United States until this year.

Former North Central standout Tim Seely has nailed down a starting spot at midfield.

“Watch Zane Higgins and Chad Brown,” the coach said. “Every time the ball gets to them, something happens. They’re on the left and right flanks.”

The Shadow has an exhibition game against league rival Yakima on April 27 in Yakima. League play begins with a road trip against the Puget Sound Hammers on May 3 and the Bellingham Orcas on May 4.

The home opener is Saturday, May 11 against the Willamette Valley Firebirds.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SPOKANE SHADOW ROSTER

# Player Position School or club

0 Brian Mullen keeper San Francisco 1 R.J. Merritt keeper CC Spokane 2 Dave Berto defender Washington 3 Chris Stiles forward Santa Clara 4 Eli Zehner midfielder Gonzaga 5 Stuart Saunders defender Whitworth 6 Stuart Rose defender Whitworth 7 Kieran Barton midfielder Seattle Sounders 8 Andy McDirmid midfielder Pacific Lutheran 9 Jim Martinson forward Whitworth 10 Tim Seely midfielder Bellevue CC 11 Dalmo Santos midfielder San Diego Shockers 12 Zane Higgins forward Whitworth 13 Kenny Krestian midfielder CC Spokane 14 Joe Ascolese forward Gonzaga Prep 15 Harlan Slind defender Masters College 16 Chad Brown midfielder CC Spokane 17 Morgan Johnson midfielder Whitworth 18 Jeff Rose forward Whitworth 19 Matt Reilly defender CC Spokane 20 Rio Three Stars midfielder Whitworth Mike Verbitsky keeper Concordia College