Spokane SC Shadow Blanks FCM Portland 2-0
By Spokane SC Shadow
A goal created and another scored by Mike Ramos Saturday night led the Spokane Shadow Men’s First Team to a 2-0 victory over second place FCM Portland in a key match-up in the race for the two berths out of the NPSL Northwest Conference.
The Shadow had a few early chances, including one about 10 minutes into the contest from long range by Mike Rojas, but it was a great strike from Mike Ramos in the 36th minute that gave Spokane the lead as lightning was threatening to halt the affair. His effort off of a nice little combination play up the middle from about 24 yards just off the right side of the arc rebounded away from the diving goalkeeper and Hakeem Rabiu popped in from the left to knock it home for the opener.
The storm, though, settled and the match continued. Just moments after the intermission Ramos jumped onto a bad back pass by the FCM defense and doubled the lead in the opening minute of the second half.
Both sides had several opportunities as the contest wore on, but goalkeeper Bryan Hernandez did well to maintain the shutout for Spokane with a few key stops and a little fortune came his way with 11 minutes remaining when a shot from FCM’s Alcides Thomas fired a shot from about 19 yards on the left that caromed off the top of the crossbar.
The result evened Spokane’s record at 3-3-1, jumping into second via tiebreakers with three more home games remaining on the slate.
Photo Credit: Gerald Barnhart/Spokane SC Shadow
