WPSL NW: Eugene, Issaquah finish level as Emerald City blanks Oregon

After reclaiming first the night before in Portland, Issaquah SC was only able to add one more point to their tally Sunday afternoon in Eugene, keeping the playoff race fairly wide open. With a big win in Bend, Emerald City jumped into third by snapping a four-game draw streak, drubbing Oregon Rush 5-0.

WPSL NW: Issaquah rallies past Portland, move into first

In a battle of the two top teams in the WPSL Northwest Division, Issaquah SC came from behind on the road versus the Portland Rain to earn a 3-1 victory, moving two points in front at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Eugene Metro and Emerald City played to a dramatic 2-2 draw in Oregon.

WSU's Setterlund & OSU's Richardson off to Canada U-20 camp

Nicole Setterlund

Northwest collegiate players Nicole Setterlund of Washington State University and Jenna Richardson of Oregon State University have been invited to participate in a Canadian U-20 camp in Montreal July 3-8. Both are are also members of the W-League Vancouver Whitecaps.

The group of 24 at the camp will be reduced to 20 for a two-week camp in Europe where they will play a pair of friendlies with Italy July 14 and Switzerland July 20 as part of their preparation for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup held August 19 to September 8 in Japan with 15 other nations.

Setterlund made two appearances for Canada at the 2012 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. In 2010, the product of Semiahmoo soccer club captained her country to the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship title in Costa Rica, and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Additionally, Setterlund captained the team at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago, starting all three matches.

Portland Rain clogged midfield, path to playoffs for Spokane Shine

The Spokane Shine went into last Saturday’s contest against the visiting Portland Rain with a great opportunity to grasp firm control on their fate in the chase for the WPSL Northwest Division’s playoff spot. Instead, the team came out flat and gave an uninspiring performance that in the end left head coach Jason Quintero deflated as well, looking toward the week off for a fresh start as they face long odds for making playoffs.

“They had a game plan. They are on the road, they played last night - a tough game – and they executed their game plan better than we did,” Quintero said after the game, referring to Portland being well organized in the first half.

“We just didn’t play well. We need to reload and come back – we could really use this off week, we got some injuries to [Tseng Shu-O] and to Alyshia Madison; and Darci Smith is still obviously not 100 percent. She had a couple crucial mistakes. So it’s gonna be nice to come back healthy in a couple weeks,” he added in a deadpan response under the glaring sun that he only broke from in reaction to his young child he was holding during the interview.

Portland Rain wins battle for first, blank Spokane Shine 2-0

Photos: Gerald Barnhart - - Facebook Gallery | Full Gallery

Despite playing in a late afternoon match the day before and traveling from Portland to take the field again within 24 hours, the Portland Rain came in organized and snared a 2-0 victory against the Spokane Shine to claim sole possession of first place in the WPSL Northwest Division Saturday afternoon.

The play early on in the contest was clearly in Portland’s favor most of the first half as they moved the ball around well and denied the Shine attack any feasible scoring opportunities.

A strike just eight minutes in allowed the visitors to continue to dictate the terms of play. A loose ball in the offensive third for Portland was picked up and sent out wide to Natalie Meiggs, who delivered a low cross in from the left flank that made its way through the defenders in the box to Elizabeth Boone, who charged in on the far side and put it past Stephanie Busch.

Emerald City rallies to tie Portland 2-2; Rain head to Spokane tied for first

Even if the Spokane Shine won the four remaining home games, they were going to need a little help from opponents of Issaquah and Portland. They got that Friday evening when Emerald City rallied from two goals down late in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw on the road against the Portland Rain, whom the Shine play host to Saturday afternoon - 3:00 pm PT at Joe Albi Stadium.

Lisa Robertson hoping Spokane Shine helps further career with Scottish National Team

Most 20-year-olds in the United States are in their first two years of college soccer, trying to earn playing time among their older peers. The Spokane Shine, however, lean on one that brings a wealth of experience and, more importantly, determined leadership to the team in the form of longtime Scottish U19 international Lisa Robertson, who will take her team into a showdown for first place in the WPSL Northwest Division Saturday against the Portland Rain at 3:00 pm at Joe Albi Stadium. 

“Keep it going ladies, work through it. Keep working.” That’s not coach Jason Quintero on the sideline at training, but rather Robertson chirping for her teammates to keep the energy up whether it’s during a scrimmage, or the warm-ups that she manages herself.

19 Spokane sides; 10 others from INW in Seattle for USCS National Cup XI Northwest Regional

US Club Soccer is holding the Northwest Regional tournament at the 60 Acres Soccer Complex in the greater Seattle area this weekend to determine the entrants into the National Cup XI Finals held later this year in Waukegan, Illinois July 27-30. Nearly 30 teams from10 different clubs around the Inland Northwest  are set to compete in the 27 Boys and Girls brackets at the event.

Nineteen clubs are headed to the Puget Sound from Spokane with a platoon of 16 teams representing the Spokane SC Shadow, two from FC Spokane and another from the Spokane Foxes. The Shadow have six teams playing on the boys side and 10 girls teams making the trek to represent the Lilac City. FC Spokane has a boys and girls team each and the Foxes are participating in the U14 Girls Premier tournament.

Shine's Quintero happy after Seattle trip; sets goals to reach postseason

The Spokane Shine are in first place in the WPSL Northwest Division and head coach Jason Quintero is pleased with the past weekend’s two-game trip to Seattle, but the math still is not completely in their favor in regards to the playoff race courtesy of only having two wins through five games.

“As a coach, you really only get one or two games a year where you feel really satisfied, and that was Friday night,” said Quintero. “Especially considering we played them a week before and any time you play someone back-to-back like that, there’s going to be lot of emotion amongst the players towards each other; and that definitely came out Friday night. It was a rough-and-tumble game.

“I am really, really proud of the girls, the way they responded to beat them on the road one-nil in a hostile environment – they had a pretty decent crowd at Issaquah – and just lock the game down after we scored.

WSU, Gonzaga among Pac-12 Networks' broadcast schedule for soccer

The system of Pac-12 Networks, one national and six regional, launching this fall on cable announced over the past two days the upcoming broadcast schedules for men’s and women’s soccer. As a Pac-12 member, the Washington State University women’s program will be featured and both of Gonzaga University’s programs will have one match broadcast courtesy of early non-league matches versus Pac-12 opponents.

The first match carried on the family of Pac-12 channels featuring schools from the Northwest will be the August 24 meeting between Gonzaga University and the University of Washington. It kicks off the 28-game broadcast schedule for Pac-12 men’s soccer that will see 15 other games featuring the Northwest duo of Washington (10 games total) and Oregon State (7 games). Seattle University also will appear once as a non-league opponent, also versus the Huskies.

The women’s 58-game broadcast schedule will kick off in California August 17, two days after the networks’ launch, with Santa Clara playing Stanford. The first games featuring the four Northwest programs – Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State – are September 14 when Washington State plays Hawaii; Gonzaga faces Oregon State; and Seattle University plays Oregon. Seattle’s game versus Oregon State two days later will also be broadcast.

More 2012 Schedules: Gonzaga Men & EWU Women

The Gonzaga University men’s program and Eastern Washington University women’s program recently announced their 2012 schedules. The Bulldogs have a schedule that will keep them on the Pacific Coast while the Eagles will face two new conference foes.

Scoreless draw puts Spokane Shine in first

The Spokane Shine and Emerald City FC could only find the woodwork Saturday afternoon in Seattle, hitting the post a combined three times in a scoreless stalemate.

The result put the Shine at the top of the division by one point after also posting a 1-0 victory the night before in Issaquah, who is tied with for second with the Portland Rain, Spokane's next opponent at Joe Albi Stadium next Saturday, June 23 at 3:00 pm PT.

Shine win in Issaquah; in three-way tie for first

Schrader & Robertson (Gerald Barnhart)

For the first time this season, the Spokane Shine took the initial lead and kept it, edging division-leading Issaquah SC Friday evening on the road, 1-0.

"We kept our focus, and we let up after we got the lead last week," head coach Jason Quintero said after the match. "This time, the girls dug in and held their ground."

With both teams finishing with 10 shots, it was a set piece that proved to be the deciding factor. Julissa Rodriguez was fouled just outside the box, setting up a free kick from Scottish youth international Lisa Robertson, who came into the match with an injured hamstring. Robertson's effort forced a sive from the Issaquah netminder, but the rebound fell to Maggie Schrader to put away at the half-hour mark.

Stephanie Busch would make six saves as the Shine picked up their second road win of the campaign in the first half of a two-game swing to western Washington.

Key Shine players carrying injuries into critical Seattle road trip

After this weekend’s road trip to western Washington, the season is already half-over for the Spokane Shine. That is what head coach Jason Quintero told his players at the conclusion of Wednesday evening’s training session. And it is not just any road trip. The two-game swing will see the Shine face arguably their toughest competition for the division’s sole playoff berth on consecutive nights with a squad banged up in all the wrong places.

On Friday evening, the Shine face first-place Issaquah SC (2-0-1), whom they played to a 1-1 draw at Joe Albi Stadium last Friday. They then play Emerald City FC (1-0-1) Saturday afternoon.

“We got some injuries that are bugging us. Tactically it’s not gonna change what we are going to try to do, coming out in a 4-2-3-1. But the personnel within that [formation] might be just a little bit different,” Quintero said. “We are gonna see how people are tomorrow night after getting some treatment in the afternoon and kinda go from there.”

In last week’s draw against Issaquah, Quintero praised the play of Scottish youth international Lisa Robertson for gutting out a hamstring injury in a strong performance that may have proven costly heading into this week.

Gonzaga Women announce 2012 schedule

Gonzaga University announced the 2012 schedule for the women’s soccer team, unveiling a slate that will see them play most of the region’s major universities in the preseason and six 2011 NCAA tournament participants in total.

After kicking off the season at home against the Summit League’s University of South Dakota (1-15-3 overall in 2011), the Bulldogs will play face Washington State, Idaho, Boise State, Washington , Seattle, Oregon State and Oregon along with a trip to Tennessee in the middle to play Austin Peay (9-8-1 overall) and Vanderbilt (8-11-0).

Spokane and Issaquah finish 1-1 in Shine home opener

The Spokane Shine started the home slate of their third campaign with a 1-1 draw against division leading Issaquah SC Friday evening at Joe Albi Stadium on a chilly evening under recently cleared skies after a series of rainy days. 

Shine head coach Jason Quintero said at training a few nights ago he wanted his club to put an end to 2-0-0 Issaquah’s shutout status. Star midfielder Tseng Shu-O of Chinese Taipei wasted no time doing that, scoring in the 14th minute on a beautiful, curling strike from just inside the left corner of the box, picking out the upper far corner of the goal.

Shining brighter and further in Spokane

A few days before the home opener at Joe Albi Stadium, Head Coach Jason Quintero shared a positive view for the upcoming season for a Spokane Shine squad and club that continue to evolve. The team plays host to an unbeaten Issaquah SC side Friday evening at 7:05 pm ET.

“I know they have not been scored on, and I want to change that,” was the first thing Quintero said of the upcoming opponent. “They got some decent players, just looking at their roster and where those players have been - and what level they play at - I know they are going to have a decent team.

The first-year Issaquah club comes into the match with a 2-0-0 record with a 3-0 win over Eugene Metro FC and a 2-0 result against Portland Rain SC – both at home. This will be the team’s first trip away from home, giving Spokane the opportunity to perhaps take utilize a similar advantage their opponents had last week when they opened on the road themselves in Eugene and Bend versus the same Metro FC side as well as the Oregon Rush. 

Spokane Shine improve during opening Oregon road trip

Nobody likes to start the season on the road, though it can be argued difficult experiences help bond teams. Perhaps that was the silver lining for the Spokane Shine having a two-game swing in Oregon to open the season as they split the trip with a 2-0 loss to Eugene Metro FC in the opener and a 5-2 victory the following night against the Oregon Rush.

Goals from Tawny App in the 38th and Kaitlin Jabonek in the 79th gave Eugene the win Friday evening, though the Shine threatened to score on a few occasions. Maggie Schrader nearly equalized with a header off the post in the 70th minute and Julissa Rodriguez (Kennewick, Wash.) had a breakaway opportunity with five minutes remaining.

The result from Friday helped the club perform better the following evening in Bend, Ore. “It’s people trusting each other a lot more and communicating better,” said Head Coach Jason Quintero in a team release.

Saturday’s match was quite an affair as the two clubs exchanged goals. Alyshia Madison (Cheney, Wash.) scored a pair of go-ahead goals for the Shine in the 21st and 35th minutes for a 2-1 halftime lead. Chelsie Breen (Cheney, Wash.) of University of Idaho set up the first goal in the 21st.