The Tacoma FC went down a goal, not once, but twice Saturday night in Spokane . Twice, they fought back to tie. In front of a crowd excited for the inaugural season of Spokane Spiders soccer the home team jumped out to a shocking lead. In the 4th minute the Spiders quickly took a free kick near the half line. The ball was then whipped in and headed upper V by Grant Lundberg. It took a while for the shock to wear off, but in the 33rd minute a corner won by Emmanuel Luvert led to an equalizer. Ciaran O’Brien took the corner and Scott Hand finished with his head. Hand had just entered the game a few minutes ago and made Coach Fran O’Brien’s substitution look smart.

 The Tide momentum was short lived. Just 4 minutes later Lundberg started the attack for Spokane . Dan Philip neatly evaded a Tide defender and crossed to Jake Moug for the redirection on goal.

 As the teams went to halftime break clouds, wind, rain, and lightning swarmed the field. Referees considered canceling or postponing the game, but in the end it was not necessary.

 Tacoma FC came out strong in the second period with an early push on goal. This persistent pressure paid off in the 75th minute when once again a corner turned fruitful. This time the wet grass caused a slippery touch from the Spiders goalkeeper and a defender. Rory Agu, a second half substitution was right there for the putaway.

 Things looked positive for a Tide victory, but once again a quick response from the Spiders came through. Spokane answered with a corner of their own. Halvor Mikkelsen headed strongly home past Tide keeper Daniel Pritchard for the final goal of the game.

 "We fought well. We did great to get back twice, but in the end set plays really killed us." Coach Fran O’Brien said afterwards. "The 2nd game in two days, maybe we had a little tired legs, but it’s still frustrating. We’ve got to learn from it." O’Brien told his players, "We’ve got to learn from it."

 The Tide outshot the Spiders 9 to 7, and forced 7 saves from Spokane GK- Dade Smith. Tacoma FC keeper Daniel Prichard made 4 saves.

 Starters: Tacoma- Pritchard, Mohn, Cochran, Tangen, Lee, Valentine, Orozco, O’Brien, David, Luvert, Macaluso

              Spokane- Smith, Phillip, Stueckle, Scott, Doggett, Lundberg, Peterson, Mikkelsen, Funkhouser, Moug, Allbery

Substitutions: Tacoma- Hand for Macaluso / Kwesele for David / Agu for Valentine

                     Spokane- Henderson for Lundberg

Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Washington. Attendance 623.