Roadrunners Give Shadow The Slip In 4-0 Win

Friday night at Albi Stadium the Spokane Shadow discovered what Wile E. Coyote has known for years … you can’t catch the Roadrunner.

In this case, it was the Central Coast Roadrunners of San Luis Obispo, Calif., rather than the desert variety.

Central Coast rallied for four second-half goals to hand Spokane a 4-0 loss in a United Systems of Independent Soccer League non-league match. It was the Shadow’s first loss of the season after a 7-0 start, snapping a string of 11 straight regular-season victories dating to last season.

“We made too many judgment errors out there in the second half,” said Spokane coach Sean Bushey. “Soccer often comes down to who capitalizes on mistakes. They capitalized on our mistakes, but we failed to capitalize on theirs.”

A pair of Roadrunners, Abel Gutierrez and Craig Tomlinson, were the difference in the contest.

Gutierrez staked Central Coast to a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute. Shadow goalkeeper Josh Fouts came out to challenge Gutierrez on the left-hand side of the 18-yard box and the visitor promptly blooped a kick over Fouts’ head that three-hopped into the net.

“That seemed to get us going,” said Gutierrez. “I’ve struggled lately to finish my shots, but things went my way tonight.”

Gutierrez added another goal at the 75-minute mark to push the lead to 2-0. Fouts once again came out to challenge Gutierrez and this time he knuckled it in just inside the right post.

Tomlinson came off the bench to score two goals in an 8-minute span to wrap up the win.

“I just finished school (at Fresno State) so I’ve only played the last three games,” said Tomlinson. “I just try to come in and make something happen and have fun. That’s what sports is all about.”

It was a big win for the Roadrunners (6-4), who saw a two-match losing streak come to an end.

“We haven’t been playing up to our capabilities lately,” said Central Coast coach Dan Tobias. “But the second half showed what we’re capable of.

“This was a great win for us. It was our first game on artificial turf, it was on the road and it was against an unbeaten team. Spokane didn’t get to 7-0 by accident.”

The Shadow will play host to the Puget Sound Bigfoot tonight at 7 at Albi in a Premier League match.

“It will be a good test for us (tonight),” said Bushey. “I’m anxious to see how we respond after this loss.”

Central Coast 4, Spokane 0

First half-None. Second half-1, CC, Gutierrez (Ramirez), 61:00. 2, CC, Gutierrez, 75:00. 3, CC, Tomlinson, 76:00. 4, CC, Tomlinson, 84:00.

Shots on goal-Central Coast 8, Spokane 11.

Saves-Central Coast, Beilke 3. Spokane, Fouts 3.

, DataTimes