Spokane, WA — Spokane Velocity FC began its third season as a League One club with a 1-0 home win against Union Omaha on Sunday.
Velocity FC head coach Leigh Veidman spoke on the game’s slow start and how his team settled in.
“It’s always tough in the first game because you don’t really know about the opposition too much. We took a little bit to start going during the game but we finally started to find our rhythm,” said Veidman.
The season opener for both clubs started slowly, with neither team having any clear shots until the 20th minute when Velocity FC midfielder Collin Fernandez had a one-legged shot outside the box sail high over the net.
Spokane’s best chance came in the 24th minute, when captain Luis Gil attempted an acrobatic strike inside the box that was blocked by Omaha goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu. Neco Brett floated a crosser to Gil in the backpost, with Luis missing the touch on his shot to give Nuhu a clean save.
Omaha almost scored before halftime when forward Aaron Gómez got open inside the box but missed a point blank shot in front of the net. Adrian Billhardt pushed a crosser over to Billhardt, who misfired his strike. Moments later, Edrey Cáceres had a strike towards the net off a free kick that was saved by goalkeeper Carlos Merancio to end the first half.
Velocity FC midfielder Joe Gallardo, who made his first start with the club since signing with them this offseason, spoke on the home win.
“It’s great, collectively we always want the three points. I feel like little by little getting to know each other as a team, and I feel like we’re only going to get better than this,” said Gallardo.
Spokane scored the match’s only goal in the 66th minute when midfielder Nil Vinyals pushed a crosser into the penalty box that was deflected in by Union Omaha defender Brent Kallman. Omaha’s own goal gave Velocity FC a 1-0 lead it would not relinquish.
Velocity FC defender Simon Fitch also made his first start for Spokane since recently joining the club, and reflected on the win.
“It’s great, it was a gritty performance. I think we have a lot to improve upon but we got three points today and that’s all that matters,” said Fitch.
Omaha had several opportunities to equalize the match that were not converted, giving Merancio his first clean sheet of the young season. The star goalkeeper picked up right where he left out last year when he had 10 shutouts, which was third-highest in the league.
Sunday’s season opener marked the debut for several new Velocity FC players, with Fitch, Gallardo, and defender Nick Spielman all starting in their first match for Spokane since signing with the club this offseason.
Coach Veidman praised the impact Spokane’s newcomers had, especially Spielman, who had only been with the club for a week.
“Simon and Joe had it a little bit easier because they had a full preseason with us, Nick not so much. He came in last week and you saw his experience today,” said Veidman. “He came in big in certain moments of the game stopping several attacks from Omaha.”
Following Sunday’s season opening win, Spokane Velocity FC will travel to Ventura, California for a U.S. Open Cup match against Ventura County Fusion on Wednesday, March 18th. The match is set to kickoff at 7:30 PM PT and can be streamed on YouTube. For tickets to Velocity FC’s next home match on March 21st against New York Cosmos, visit Velocity FC Tickets – USL Spokane.
