SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Zephyr FC entered the final day of the Gainbridge Super League regular season outside of the playoff picture, but could play themselves into the fourth and final postseason berth with a win plus some help.
Step one, Spokane needed a win over Brooklyn FC to put pressure on Dallas Trinity FC, who came into the regular season finale one point ahead of Spokane in the fourth playoff spot. A draw would also keep Zephyr’s playoff hopes alive.
Spokane seemingly had no interest in anything other than a commanding victory.
Just over a minute into the match, Reese Tappan sent a ball into the box that pinballed off of multiple Brooklyn players and ended up in the back of the net for an own goal to make it 1-0. Later in the first half, Spokane’s Felicia Knox uncorked a beautiful left-footed strike on the edge of the box that curled past the Brooklyn goalkeeper to make it 2-nil Zephyr in the 36th minute.
From there, no scoring would take place until late in the match, with Spokane striking twice in the final ten minutes. In the 82nd, a Thais Reiss goal would make it 3-0 before Lena Silano added the exclamation mark with another Spokane goal in the 88th to make it 4-0, the eventual final score.
The win gave Spokane Zephyr FC a final regular season record of 10-9-9, and the three points gained from the win gave them 39 total on the season. For the moment, Spokane moves into the fourth and final Super League playoff spot. However, Dallas Trinity FC (10-10-7, 38 points) could leapfrog Spokane if they defeat Fort Lauderdale United FC in their regular season finale at 5:30pm PST.
A loss or draw for Dallas would lock Spokane into the postseason, due to the fact that Spokane owns a tiebreaker over Dallas due to goal differential.