‘We left some chances out there’: Spokane Zephyr play to 1-1 tie against Brooklyn FC
Washington native Taryn Ries scored her first goal for Spokane Zephyr FC, but Brooklyn FC used a late penalty kick to force a 1-1 draw on Sunday evening in USL Super League play at ONE Spokane Stadium.
“We left some chances out there, so a little bit disappointed,” Spokane coach Jo Johnson said.
The Zephyr (0-0-2), playing their second match in club history, seemed poised to record their first win. After Ries put Spokane on top with a 35th-minute scoring strike, Spokane controlled possession and played solid defense on the back line, preserving its lead for most of the second half while Brooklyn (0-0-1) struggled to create scoring chances.
The visitors tied it up in the 86th minute, after Spokane goalkeeper Izzy Nino – who’d been stellar throughout the match – charged to the top of the box, saved an initial shot attempt, but missed on an ensuing tackle attempt and drew a yellow card. Brooklyn’s Jessica Garziano capitalized with a PK goal.
“She had some really good saves. There were a lot of breakdowns (just before Brooklyn’s PK), so you can’t fault her for that,” Johnson said of Nino, who logged three saves – including a difficult save on a one-on-one chance in stoppage time. “We liked her being aggressive off the line. We’ve really been working in training with the goalkeepers on one-on-one situations, and I thought she handled it well. It was just unfortunate it ended in a PK.”
The Zephyr began to capture momentum after about 25 minutes of back-and-forth play. For a stretch of about 10 minutes, Ries and fellow forward Emina Ekic looked crisp and relentless on the attack, and the duo’s persistence seemed to weaken Brooklyn’s defense ahead of Ries’ goal.
Ekic evaded one defender and rolled a pass between two more to Ries, who was left alone for an easy goal into the bottom-left corner.
“It felt great – just to be surrounded by all these fans in my home state, it’s such a good feeling,” said Ries, who hails from Ridgefield, Washington.
The Zephyr had possession for 63% of game time. They recorded seven shots, three on target – Spokane created plenty of opportunities, often teasing the crowd of 2,151 with near misses on close shot attempts. The Zephyr had three legitimate scoring chances thwarted during a 15-minute stretch midway through the second half, and Spokane couldn’t convert on three decent looks during stoppage time.
“We had chance after chance – just need to put one away,” Johnson said.
Brooklyn logged 10 shot attempts but only two were accurate.
The Zephyr, who played to a 1-1 draw against Fort Lauderdale United FC in their opener on Aug. 17, were playing on three weeks’ rest. Spokane will be able to settle into a routine with weekly matches from here on out.
“It definitely felt like it was another first game with three weeks being between each game,” defender and captain Sarah Clark said. “It’ll be nice moving forward, getting into a rhythm.”
Spokane next hosts Carolina Ascent FC at 6 p.m. Sunday.