Logan Redinger, University of Washington ‘25
Spokane Zephyr FC continued their six-match road trip in Texas’ iconic Cotton Bowl where they took on Dallas Trinity FC Wednesday night.
Despite Spokane outshooting Dallas 11-7 and controlling 53% possession, they were unable to find a breakthrough. Dallas only managed one shot on target, and also failed to score.
The scoreless draw saw Spokane (2-4-6) move up from sixth to fifth with 12 points in the USL Super League standings. Dallas (4-1-5) remains in third with 17 points.
“It’s hard to shutout teams on the road and we accomplished that through a collective effort tonight,” Hope Hisey said. This was the third clean sheet in a row for the Zephyr goalkeeper, totaling to four on the season.
The first half saw both clubs possess the ball back and forth but couldn’t capitalize in the final third. Dallas created two decent looks in the 8th and 9th minutes. Both chances resulted in shots going wide or being blocked by Spokane defenders.
Emma Jaskaniec had a pair of chances in the first half. In the 26th minute, she nearly capitalized off a Zephyr fast break, but her shot curled just wide. Seven minutes later, she had a golden opportunity to shoot in the center of the box but missed slightly left.
The best opportunity came for Spokane early in the second half. Katie Murray netted a bullet of a goal, but it was called back for offside. A few minutes later, Emina Ekić shot a line drive into the bottom left corner, forcing a first save for Dallas Trinity FC goalkeeper Madison White.
“Tonight was a team fight, we didn’t get the win we deserved but I’m so proud of my teammates and the staff for the effort that was put into this match,” Julianne Vallerand said.
The best chance for Dallas came in the 78th minute, when attacker Sealey Strawn hit the crossbar off a tremendous header within the six yard box.
Spokane saw out the match and held third-place Dallas scoreless at home.
“We played really well against a strong Dallas team, executing our game plan and making it tough for them to get into their rhythm,” head coach Jo Johnson said. “We are looking forward to continuing to stack performances like tonight in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, hoping to put a few of our chances away.”
Spokane Zephyr FC will travel to Florida on Dec. 7 to take on Fort Lauderdale United FC in their fifth of six road matches to close out their fall schedule. The match will kickoff at 4:30 p.m. PST and will be streamed on Peacock TV.
