Gonzaga blanked by Montana and Washington in doubleheader

Montana and Washington picked up shutout wins in Spokane Friday (Photos: Gerald Barnhart)

It was a tough day at home for the Gonzaga soccer program as the women fell 2-0 to the visiting Montana Grizzlies in the afternoon contest and the cross-state foe Washington Huskies, ranked 4 and 6 in the national polls, rolled to a 4-0 victory in the second half of the doubleheader.

Former Shadow, MLS standout Waibel takes RSL coaching post

After helping lead the University of Washington to its best season in program history this past fall in his first year with his alma mater, Spokane native and former Spokane Shadow PDL standout Craig Waibel was named as part of the assistant coaching staff for new Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar Wednesday.

Award-winning Waibel guiding Huskies into unprecedented territory

Waibel was named Far West Assistant Coach of the Year by the NSCAA Thursday | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

Only three years removed from playing his final Major League Soccer game for the Houston Dynamo and in his second season as an assistant coach for his alma mater, Spokane native and former Spokane Shadow PDL standout Craig Waibel was honored Thursday by the NSCAA and has the University of Washington on the verge of the NCAA Final Four with a home contest against New Mexico. The game can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.

“It has been a year of steady growth and continued improvement for our guys,” Waibel told INWsoccernews. “They have battled as tough as any of their competitors and have found ways to win game through efficient play, and at times beautiful soccer.  But their spirit and their humility is their true strength. They also possess the ability to win games ugly when needed.  They have the confidence in themselves to set aside their ideals of the beautiful game and roll up their sleeves. And in doing so, they show their maturity as a group and their overwhelming desire to succeed on the field.

NWSL allocation results keep Richland’s Solo in Seattle

US Women’s National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo (Richland, WA) was among the seven American, Canadian and Mexican national team players assigned to the newly-formed Seattle Reign in Friday’s announcement by the new professional National Women’s Soccer League being operated by the US Soccer Federation.

Cascadia stars as USA Women survive 4-3 OT thriller after trailing three times to Canada

Richland’s Hope Solo made a couple nice stops, but was outshined on the day by her Northwest counterparts who dominated the scoring summary and stole the spotlight in a wild back-and-forth Olympic Semifinal affair that saw the Canadians take the lead three times before going to overtime, where the United States eventually prevailed, 4-3, on a stoppage time header from Seattle Sounders Women striker Alex Morgan.

Seattle Sounders goalkeeper and University of Washington product Hope Solo was one of the focal points heading into the tournament, but despite her lengthy shutout streak coming into the contest most of the eyes were on the star duo Abby Wambach of the United States and Christine Sinclair. Instead, the match ended up being a showdown of University of Portland products as Sinclair and fellow former Pilot Megan Rapinoe exchanged goals, making the match an all-Cascadia affair.