Spokane, Wa.- Spokane Velocity FC kicked off their 2025 season home opener on the pitch at ONE Spokane Stadium, resulting in a record 2-2 draw against One Knoxville SC.
Spokane Velocity FC returned to the pitch for their second season as a club after making the 2024 USL League One finals in their inaugural season.
Spokane Velocity FC (0-0-1) and One Knoxville SC (0-0-1) started with neither club creating clean scoring opportunities in the opening minutes. Velocity FC defender Cameron Miller scored the first goal of the season in the 40th minute off a header goal from a corner kick. Spokane Velocity FC kept the momentum going, with Derek Waldeck scoring a goal off a corner kick to give Spokane Velocity FC a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Waldeck spoke to his goal in the first half and the role he wants to play offensively.
“My job is really to make it dangerous for these guys to go attack it. I was able to do that and put it in a dangerous area, and it resulted in a goal,” explained Waldeck.
Spokane Velocity FC Head Coach Leigh Veidman made his return for the second season and reflected on Miller and Waldeck’s goals, noting that the entire team has worked on their offense this last offseason.
“The boys have been working really hard in training to improve that area of our game,” said Veidman. “It’s something we identified from last year that was not strong enough, both in defense and attack,” continued Veidman.
One Knoxville SC cut into Spokane Velocity FC’s lead in the 60th minute off a goal by midfielder Mikkel Gelling. Spokane Velocity FC held strong defensively until stoppage time, when midfielder Angelo Kelly scored a goal which tied the match 2-2. Neither team was able to create clean opportunities on goal to take the lead, and the match ended in a draw.
Multiple players made their Spokane Velocity FC debuts on Sunday after signing with the club in the offseason. Forward Neco Brett and midfielder Nil Vinyals made their debuts in the 61st minute, while defenders Lucky Opara and Davíd Garcia took the pitch minutes later.
Veidman spoke on the importance and impact of getting the new players on the pitch during the start of the 2025 season.
“It was great to get them in, to get some minutes in the game, and start to build some game fitness,” said Veidman.
Miller was excited to see his new teammates get on the pitch and in front of the home crowd.
“It was good to see the new guys on the field, for sure,” said Miller. “I’m glad they got out there and got to show themselves off in front of Spokane.”
Both Spokane Velocity FC and One Knoxville SC are 0-0-1 following their season-opening match. The next Spokane Velocity FC match will be on March 19th, 2025, against Ballard FC at Interbay stadium in Seattle. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm PST and can be streamed on Peacock+.
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