Logan Redinger, University of Washington ‘25
Spokane Zephyr FC traveled to Kentucky to take on Lexington SC in search of their first road win on Wednesday. A late equalizer from Lexington’s Marykate McGuire robbed Spokane of the win, resulting in 1-1 draw.
“We’re obviously disappointed not to come away with all three points today, especially since we controlled a lot of the match,” head coach Jo Johnson said. “It’s a game I feel we could have managed better toward the end.”
Zephyr entered the match at 2-4-4 and sixth in the USL Super League standings. The draw will keep them in sixth while Lexington remains in last place with a record of 2-7-3.
Zephyr had 62% possession to Lexington’s 38%. Despite that, Lexington managed to outshoot Spokane 15-14 with four shots on target, compared to two for Spokane.
Lexington had a great early look in the 16th minute when the ball fell to Madison Parsons inside the box, but her shot was directed at Spokane’s Hope Hisey, who made the save.
Spokane proceeded to take control of the match by the 25th minute when Emina Ekić dribbled around a Lexington defender and drew a foul inside the penalty box. Ekić converted the penalty, giving the lead to Spokane.
Zephyr went into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
The second half began with a flurry of shots from both sides. The best one, in the 53rd minute, came from Ekić, who drove her shot just wide from outside of the box. The match opened up from there, with Lexington trying to equalize and Spokane attempting to put the match to bed.
Lexington could not find its way through Spokane’s defense, which blocked three shots in a span of two minutes in the 68th and 69th.
Spokane had a pair of chances in the 83rd minute. Marley Canales had a decent look from the center of the box but pulled the shot wide. Emma Jaskaniec almost put the match away moments later when she cut inside but also put her shot just wide.
The missed opportunities would come back to haunt Spokane, as Lexington equalized in the 86th minute. A giveaway by Zephyr in the defensive-third resulted in a well-placed shot into the bottom-corner from Marykate McGuire.
The match ended 1-1, with Spokane missing out on their first road win.
“I think we’re all a little disappointed not to walk away with more points,” Ekić said. “We’ve had a lot of growth over the last two games and we’re going to look to keep building heading into Dallas.”
Spokane will travel to the Cotton Bowl next to take on Dallas Trinity FC on Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. The match will be the fourth out of six for Spokane on the road to close out the fall season.
