Spokane Shadow appoint Barnhart as GM for EPL-WA men’s team

The Spokane Shadow men’s soccer team set to re-launch in 2014 as members of the state’s newly-formed Evergreen Premier League (EPL-WA) announced that Spokane native and INWsoccernews founder Gerald Barnhart, who served as the first Public Relations Director for the Shadow’s USL Premier Development League team from 1997-99, has joined the team and will serve as the general manager.

INW Best XI - Week 13: Ludwigs, Swanson guide Gonzaga & Loggers to wins

Each week INWsoccernews will release lists of the week’s best performances for men’s and women’s soccer in the region, recognizing players at schools in the region or those from the area that play elsewhere in the nation.

INW College Recap - Week 13: Season coming to a close, with a few exceptions

It was a difficult weekend for college soccer fans in Eastern Washington as the Washington State Cougars were knocked out of the tournament at home in penalty kicks, and despite finishing third with an emphatic win in their home finale, the Gonzaga men were not selected Monday for the men's tournament.

Elsewhere, however, some teams will continue to play in national tournament action. Rocky Mountain College is the lone team from the region still alive with their NAIA tournament campaign set to begin this weekend, but there are several other schools featuring INW players still in play. Among them are the Santa Clara women (DI), Puget Sound women (DIII), Corban men (NAIA), Concordia women (NAIA) and Westminster women (NAIA)

Gonzaga soars by Gaels, hope midnight howl enough to get selection committee's attention

Ludwigs and Phillips provided plenty to celebrate Sunday in home finale | Photos: Gerald Barnhart - GALLERY

Aside from one long-range effort that was on the mark for the Gaels, the Gonzaga Bulldog men completely dominated the team's home finale en route to a 3-1 victory Sunday in a showdown for third place in the West Coast Conference. More importantly, the Bulldogs put an exclamation point at the conclusion of their impressive 2013 campaign hoping that it would be enough to send the Zags into the NCAA tournament via the selection committee, which will announce the field Monday morning.

Tourney hopeful Zags fall 1-0 to San Francisco, face must-win Sunday against Gaels who moved to third in Portland

The Zags wrap up their home season with Senior Day at noon Sunday | Photos: Gerald Barnhart - GALLERY

The NCAA tournament-hopeful Gonzaga men were dealt a big blow Friday afternoon amidst the constant, frigid drizzle that came down, falling 1-0 to visiting San Francisco in the first of their final two games of the season. They play again Sunday at noon, hoping a win against Saint Mary's in a showdown for third in the conference will be enough to earn an at-large berth.

INW Best XI - Week 12: Bowden & Boyd lead Boise State and C of Idaho to big wins

Each week INWsoccernews will release lists of the week’s best performances for men’s and women’s soccer in the region, recognizing players at schools in the region or those from the area that play elsewhere in the nation.

INW College Recap - Week 12: NWAACC Final Fours are set; players announced for All-Star games

The Warriors of Walla Walla CC were the lone sides from the East to survive the NWAACC Quarterfinal Round contests Wednesday as they won both at home while Spokane was swept on the road and the Columbia Basin was knocked out on the women's side.

INW College Recap - Week 12: Frontier & Cascade - Rocky Mountain men headed to NAIA tourney; C of Idaho reach CCC playoffs

In the Unaffiliated Group qualifying tournament, the top-seeded Rocky Mountain sides split after reaching their respective championship contests. The Battlin' Bear men edged Jamestown College 1-0 to reach the NAIA tournament while the ladies dropped their first game of the year against conference foe Westminster, 1-0, in the Final.

Meanwhile, the CCC ladies started the postseason tournament to narrow the field down to two. Top seeds Concordia and Northwest University prevailed in the semifinals, though the Eagles needed penalties to squeak by Corban. On the men's side they finished out the regular season with the Yotes posting a huge win in their finale to jump up to fourth and claim the final berth in the conference tournament, which kicks off Tuesday.

INW College Recap - Week 12: GNAC & NWC - Puget Sound sweeps NWC titles; CWU falls in GNAC semi

In the GNAC, Central Washington's postseason hopes were dashed in the semifinals by third-place Seattle Pacific, who rallied with a pair of late goals to reach the final and eventually win the title against top-seed Western Washington via penalties. On the men's side the Falcons finished a close second to defending champion Simon Fraser, coming up just one point shy of the guaranteed berth.

In the Northwest Conference, the Puget Sound Loggers, having already clinched the men's title, made it a sweep as the women wound up seven points clear with a pair of wins while fellow contender Linfield collapsed with two losses.

INW College Recap - Week 12: WSU Cougars extend streak vs rival Huskies to a decade; GU men sweep LMU

The result itself may not have looked dominant by the 1-0 scoreline, but the numbers on a larger scale are much more impressive as Washington State is now 7-0-3 over the last 10 years against Washington. More importantly, the Cougars are reaching new heights in program accomplishments - most wins and best conference finish at second - and are on the verge of a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, fifth in the last six years.

Meanwhile, the Gonzaga men are still on the hunt for a potential NCAA berth, finishing a split on the road in California with an impressive victory over conference-leading Loyola Marymount before heading home for the final two games of the season this week.

INW College Recap - Week 12: Broncos make run, but fall short in MWC Final; plus WAC & Big Sky tourney results

The Broncos of Boise State added to their quality season with a good run in the Mountain West Conference's postseason tournament, reaching the championship game before falling to San Diego State by the same narrow 1-0 scoreline from the regular season. The results, which included a victory over second-place Fresno State could have the Broncos on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, the University of Idaho Vandals saw their final Western Athletic Conference contest finish with a big thud as they were unable to solve regular season champion Seattle University in their third consecutive meeting. After falling 3-0 and 3-1 in the final week of the season, the Vandals were thumped handily by the Redhawks, who cruised to the league championship with a 3-0 win in the Final.

The Vandals now begin preparations for the Big Sky, which crowned its postseason conference champion over the weekend. Weber State took the crown after a scoreless draw with Portland State via penalties, marking the third consecutive year the conference title has been decided from the spot. Two years ago the Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament after falling in the tiebreaker to Montana, who were edged in last year's shootout by Idaho State.

Pirates prevail 2-0 as Whitworth, Whitman men close out NWC campaigns

Saturday was about more than the final score for the regional foes | Photos: Gerald Barnhart 

Local foes Whitworth and Whitman met Saturday afternoon in Spokane with the host Pirates coming away 2-0 victors on goals from Matt Bray and Will Wren. It was the Northwest Conference finale for the two programs, though, first-year Whitworth coach Morgan Cathey is hopeful the team has an outside shot of being selected as an at-large representative of the NWC in the Division III NCAA Tournament with their 17-3-3 overall record and 10-2-2 conference campaign.

"I think, hopefully, we still have a chance on Monday," said Whitworth head coach Morgan Cathey. "Being fourth in the region I think we'll have to see what happens with the at-large bid. I don't know if we are in a place right now over UT-Dallas, but I think our guys thoroughly deserve to be considered in the NCAA tournament talk. I think we haven't lost in seven or eight games."

CC Spokane sweeps NWAACC playoff doubleheader to reach Quarters

The Bigfoot now hit the road for Quarterfinals Saturday | Photos Gerald Barnhart 

Looking to return to the championship match after finishing runners-up a year ago, the Bigfoot women snared a relatively easy 3-0 victory in the opening round of the NWAACC postseason with a pair of goals from Tasha Luu as they downed visiting Bellevue College, sending them to a Quarterfinal showdown with Clackamas, whom they faced in the semifinals a year ago and in the season opener this year.

In the second half of the doubleheader the Sasquatch men made an adventure of it against the visiting Titans as they were in control much of the match and held the lead after an early Brian Clark penalty. However, the final five minutes saw Tacoma come within inches of scoring the equalizer three times only to come up short in the 1-0 decision.

INW Best XI - Week 11: Setterlund led WSU to huge upset wins, Cass guided RMC over rivals

Each week INWsoccernews will release lists of the week’s best performances for men’s and women’s soccer in the region, recognizing players at schools in the region or those from the area that play elsewhere in the nation.

INW College Recap - Week 11: GNAC & NWC - Central Washington set for GNAC tournament as two-seed

In a preview of their GNAC semifinal contest coming up this weekend, the Central Washington Wildcats concluded the season with a narrow 1-0 victory over Seattle Pacific to move into second, though the tournament is being held at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA.

The GNAC men still have one week outstanding as they will not play a tournament, and the Northwest Conference still has one more weekend of play remaining, though the Puget Sound men have clinched the men's title. On the women's side the Loggers are also in the top spot, though they leaped into it by defeating Linfield, who had been at the top for most of the campaign. They both have two games in the final weekend of action.

INW College Recap - Week 11: Walla Walla women win showdown for first as Warriors claim title double

The NWAACC season came to a close in a somewhat drama-free fashion aside from the first-place showdown between leaders Walla Walla and Spokane, who were separated by just one point. The Warriors rolled to a surprising 5-0 victory to avenge their lone loss of the season, leaving the duo as part of a trio across the NWACCC that finished with only one loss on their overall record along with Whatcom. Whatcom was joined by reigning NWAACC women's champion Peninsula (16-0-0) as the only unbeaten teams in conference campaigns. The East Division finished Walla Walla, Spokane and Columbia Basin for both the men's and women's seasons.

INW College Recap - Week 11: Frontier & Cascade - Conference playoffs set begin for all but CCC men

Eastern Oregon finished their turnaround season with a victory over the College of Idaho to claim the fifth season in only their second postseason appearance in program history while on the men's side of the CCC, the College of Idaho remains in the running for the fourth and final seed going into their final game, though they need a home victory Saturday versus seventh-place Warner Pacific and a loss by Evergreen at last-place Northwest Christian.

Conference play finished up in the Frontier Conference, which will play host to the Unaffiliated Group tournaments courtesy of top seed Rocky Mountain College. The RMC men wrapped things up by avenging last week's loss to Great Falls and the ladies were the only team to sweep the final-week series between the three Montana-based schools which saw Carroll split as Great Falls lost to both rivals.

INW College Recap - Week 11: Washington State downs two ranked sides; Double-split for Gonzaga

It was a statement week for Washington State as the Cougars knocked off two ranked opponents in Pullman. First they rallied past 21st-ranked California for a 3-1 victory and then they stunned 6th-ranked Stanford - their first win at home against Stanford since 1993, which also ended a pair of amazing Cardinal road streaks.

Meanwhile, a little further north the Gonzaga duo split their respective pair of contests. The Bulldog men split, ending a lengthy winless stretch in conference play on the road with a win in Portland before returning home and falling to Santa Clara. The lady Zags went to overtime in both games on the road, falling at Pacific and rebounding to defeat Saint Mary's.

INW College Recap - Boise State, Idaho prep for MWC & WAC tournaments; Big Sky tourney set

A pair of victories propelled Boise State to third in the MWC in the final week of the season, placing them in the Second Round of their tournament and the University of Idaho found a bit of fortune in other results, allowing them to hold onto the fourth seed in their final season in the WAC, setting up a third consecutive match in the period of two weeks with Northwest foe Seattle University, who won this weekend's matches by 3-0 and 3-1 to finish perfect on the year in conference.

Lower Division Power Rankings: November 4

Only one game remains in Lower Division play this year, making the rankings more or less a done deal with the exception of New York and Atlanta next week in the final edition.

This week, though, Carolina jumped up into the top five by locking up the best overall 2013 record in the NASL, but the biggest movement was further down where Minnesota moved up two spots with a big win at Tampa Bay while FC Edmonton's draw at Fort Lauderdale ensured they had one of the better tallies in the loss column overall for the year than most of the league as the result was their 12th tie of the year.

Lower Division Recap: Round 31

In the semi-preview of the NASL Soccer Bowl set for 7:30 pm ET Saturday, the New York Cosmos claimed a 1-0 road victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks in the regular season finale to finish the Fall campaign with just one loss and an eight-point gap over the second-place side Carolina RailHawks.

The RailHawks, who finished second in the Spring season as well, jumped into the number two spot with a 2-1 victory over the visiting San Antonio Scorpions while Tampa Bay had fallen 4-6 at against Minnesota. The results also ensured Carolina finished with the best overall point total for the entire 2013 campaign as they 12-7-7 for the year for 43 points, finishing five points in front of the 10-8-8 Rowdies.

Whitworth women snare 1-0 win in home finale; Wren leads men to 3-0 win

The Whitworth men will celebrate Senior Day next Saturday vs regional foe Whitman | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The Whitworth women closed out their home slate with their eighth conference play shutout performance and claimed the victory against visiting Lewis & Clark on a late goal from Jackie Day, and the Pirate men had yet another easy go of it as they blanked Linfield 3-0 in a game in which reserves saw plenty of action and defender Will Wren tallied a brace playing up top.

Whitworth and Willamette play to a pair of draws

The Pirates play at home again Sunday on what will be Senior Day for the ladies | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

Finding goals was a difficult task Saturday at Whitworth as the Pirate ladies finished in a scoreless draw, their third in four games, against visiting Willamette and the men rallied for a 1-1 draw against the Bearcats, eliminating them from contention for the conference title that went to the University of Puget Sound with the day's results.