SPOKANE, WA — Spokane Velocity FC fought to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Fort Wayne on Saturday, July 25 at ONE Spokane Stadium. This win was the sweet revenge Velocity FC were searching for after a 0-3 loss to Fort Wayne earlier this season.
Velocity FC head coach Leigh Veidman reflected on Velocity’s second win of the week:
“What you’ve seen this week is really a lot of hard work and a lot of togetherness on our fight,” Veidman stated. “This is not easy, I am really happy for them and I am really proud of them.”
Fort Wayne settled into the match quickly, testing Velocity FC’s backline with a shot in the first minute by Taig Healy. Fort Wayne continued to build its attack on Velocity FC and was awarded two corners in the third and fifth minutes, but could not finish those attempts.
Fort Wayne claimed the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Jack Thomas took a right footed shot that was initially blocked by Velocity FC goalkeeper Sean Lewis, but spilled out and was fired into the back of the net by Thomas.
Shots by Nil Vinyals in the 19th and 23rd minute kickstarted Velocity FC’ s offense, but they remained on the hunt for their first goal of the match.
Another dangerous shot from Fort Wayne came in the 31st minute from Lilian Ricol that was ultimately saved by Sean Lewis. Shortly after, Fort Wayne defender Jon Jordan made a sliding block that deflected out for a Velocity FC corner. A few minutes later, a ball sent in by Velocity FC’s Moses Mensah found the head of Nil Vinyals and the header flew high and wide of the net.
Transitioning down to the other end of the pitch in the 44th minute for one of the final plays of the first half was Fort Wayne’s Taig Healy, who assisted by Jon Jordan, took a left-footed shot that sailed high and wide of the net.
Velocity FC trailed 1-0 to the visiting Fort Wayne heading into the second half.
Velocity FC opened the second half with their best chance yet, facilitated by a beautiful slip-in ball from midfielder Nil Vinyals in the 52nd minute. He found Neco Brett on the run, and Brett’s shot hit the crossbar.
Fort Wayne earned a corner in the 56th minute, and Jack Thomas’s header missed the goal wide and to the right. On the returning end, Velocity FC turned up the heat on their attack with a shot in the 62nd minute by Collin Fernandez and a header in the 65th minute by Rocky Wells.
Following the missed attempts, Velocity FC broke through and tied the match 1-1 in the 66th minute. Vinyals sent a chipped ball to the foot of Shavon John-Brown who fired it into the back of the net.
Fort Wayne poised a recovery attempt in the 71st minute initiated by Taig Healy, whose shot was blocked and deflected. Ryan Betcher collected the rebound for a left-footed strike from outside of the box that was saved by Velocity FC goalkeeper Sean Lewis.
Shavon John-Brown earned the brace and the go-ahead goal for Velocity FC in the 81st minute with a near replica of his first goal of the game, this time assisted by Jack Denton.
Shavon John-Brown shared his thoughts about the substitutions made towards the end of the match and the overall team fight for the win.
“Who we have started is a strong team and who we have on the bench is a strong team,” John-Brown explained. “We knew what we had to do, even one goal down we kept pushing, and eventually we found the result.”
Just minutes after scoring his second, John-Brown sent in a clean cross to Luis Gil who in-stride placed the ball into the bottom right of the net to make the score 3-1 for Velocity FC in the 84th minute.
Luis Gil expanded on what it took to stay in the game despite down 1-0 going into the second half.
“It takes a team effort, sometimes it’s not always going to be in the first half or the first 60 minutes, sometimes it comes in the late 70 minutes when you need it,” Gil stated. “We fought to the end and that’s what matters.”
The game continued with seven minutes of added time, but it wasn’t enough for Fort Wayne to get back into the back. Velocity FC walked away with a 3-1 win when the final whistle was blown.
Velocity FC hits the road to play Chattanooga Red Wolves SC this Saturday, August 1 at CHI Memorial Stadium. Velocity FC returns home to One Spokane Stadium on August 12 to face Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in an exciting Prinx Tires USL Cup Quarterfinals match. Don’t miss the action, get your tickets now and cheer on the Lads as they continue the push to the USL League One playoffs!
