Kaya Crawford, Gonzaga University ‘26
Spokane Zephyr FC continues their search for the club’s third win in their rematch with Carolina Ascent FC at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 4 p.m. PST.
The match is Zephyr’s second of a six-match road trip to close out the fall schedule, and will be available to stream on Peacock.
Carolina sits atop the USL Super League standings and is undefeated with a record of 5-0-5. Zephyr is seventh with a record of 2-4-3.
Zephyr faced Carolina for the first time on Sept. 15 and fell 2-0 at home. Carolina’s goals came from Sydney Studer and Mia Corbin, who is tied for third most goals in the league with three.
Spokane is coming off a 1-0 loss at Brooklyn FC on Oct. 31. Brooklyn’s Luana Grabias scored in the 14th minute, shooting from outside the box off an assist from Samantha Kroeger.
“We know road points are hard to come by, and to find success on the road, we need to improve our decision making and technical execution,” head coach Jo Johnson said following the match. “We will get back to work and treat this game as a valuable learning experience as we navigate this road stretch.”
Carolina won their last match 1-0 over DC Power FC. Carolina defender Renée Guion scored from the penalty spot in the 20th minute and goalkeeper Meagan McClelland secured a league-leading fifth clean sheet on the season.
Spokane will need to put up a tough attack early against Carolina as they aim to secure their third win of the season. Zephyr controlled 57.2% of possession in their first match against Carolina. They outshot Carolina 18 to 12 but were unable to find the back of the net.
For the past two matches, Spokane has been without Emina Ekić, Sophia Braun and Riley Tanner, who were called up for international duty. They returned to training this week.
Spokane’s Marley Canales was named to USL Super League’s October team of the month with Taylor Aylmer earning a spot on the team of the month bench. Another standout on the Zephyr side is Sarah Clark who has played all 810 minutes of Spokane’s USL Super League season so far.
From former pro teammates to a Rutgers connection, this weekend’s matchup will see familiar faces on opposite sides of the pitch. Carolina’s Audrey Harding played with Spokane’s Katie Murray and Aylmer at the Washington Spirit in 2022 and Carolina’s Cannon Clough and Spokane’s Clark were teammates in Australia for Canberra United. McClelland and Aylmer played together at Rutgers University from 2018-2019.
Following their match with Carolina, Spokane will continue their road trip with a match against Lexington SC at 4 p.m. PST on Wednesday at Lexington Stadium. From there, Zephyr will play three more matches on the road to close out the fall schedule.
Head to Flatstick Pub to cheer on Zephyr FC and Velocity FC this Saturday, Nov. 9 at 3:30 PM
