Pumas rally to top Spokane 4:1, await Timbers on Tuesday in US Open Cup

Matt Friesen heads home the winning goal for Kitsap in the second half as the Pumas went on to beat the Spokane Spiders 4:1 at Bremerton Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. (Jenni Conner)

After a forgettable first half in which the Pumas 'just weren't good enough' according to their head coach Pete Fewing, the Kitsap outfit sprayed the ball around the pitch beautifully and scored three goals to pull away from the Spokane Spiders in a 4:1 final June 19th in Bremerton.

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This match was always going to be a possible trip-up for Kitsap, who host the future Major League Soccer Portland Timbers on Tuesday June 22nd in the second round of the US Open Cup. Spokane had only pride to play for, sitting 8th in the 9-club PDL Northwest Division. Still, the Pumas' form has been wanting lately, and the Spiders have had some close calls against other contenders.

The first half saw Spokane take the lead when Nick Love used the far post to his advantage and bounced one in past Pumas goalkeeper Dustyn Brim. It was then Tye Perdido's turn to shine for Kitsap. The Hawaiian forward hit the left post twice on hard line drive shots before leveling the match in first-half stoppage time with a header that appeared to go right through the goalkeeper's hands.

“You keep knocking on the door and then all of a sudden you get one,” Perdido said. “You get rid of that mental block that comes with hitting the post twice – and you start playing better.”

It wasn't handshakes and hugs in the Kitsap locker room at the break. “I told them it just wasn’t good enough,” Kitsap coach Peter Fewing said of his message to the players at halftime. “There wasn’t enough urgency, there wasn’t enough leadership. We were just flat- and that's not good enough.”

The Pumas owned the second half and could have scored four, five or even more. The three will do nicely, though.

Fewing decided to keep the starters in to begin the second half, giving them a chance to make amends for the sloppy 45 minutes. “Everybody on this team expects us to play better,” he said. “I think in the second half we wore them down more than anything.”

Robby Christner nearly put the Pumas ahead in the 54th minute, but his shot from 20 yards out banged off the crossbar.

Matt Friesen finally gave the team a 2-1 in the 64th minute, sending in a header off a Cameron Hepple free kick.

Then a minute after an apparent Christner goal was waived off with an offside call, Jason Cascio scored his second goal of the season with a shot that bounced off a Spokane defender and rolled past the keeper to make it 3-1.

Puma forward Eli Gordley, who was injured in the pre-season and hadn’t seen much playing time, gave the Pumas a three-goal cushion three minutes after checking into the game. His strike in the 77th minute, assisted by Greg Miley, was Kitsap’s seventh goal this season against the Spiders.

The Pumas outshot the visitors by a whopping 19-3 margin.

A sense of relief hovered over the pitch after the match. The Pumas had avoided the let down and now have just a few short days to get ready for the biggest match of most of the players' careers. A 7:00 PM rematch with the Portland Timbers, who knocked the Pumas out of the 2009 US Open Cup last year at Tuesday's very same venue.

“We’re all biting at the bit,” Perdido said. “We want to step on our home field and put on a good show, but we can’t play like we did in the first half tonight. We’re definitely going to come out playing hard.”

Friesen celebrates his match-winner alongside Robby Christner. (Jenni Conner)