By Henry Krueger, Gonzaga University ’25
Spokane Velocity FC’s remarkable journey continues as they charge into the USL League One Final in their first season.
The title opportunity arrived sooner than anyone anticipated. According to head coach Leigh Veidman, it took a “magic recipe” for Velocity to reach this point.
“The candid answer is, nobody expected this in year one,” Veidman said. “But when you’ve got a group of hardworking people behind the scenes trying to build something like this, a great locker room of amazing people, excellent football players who work hard and apply themselves every day and then you’ve got the City of Spokane who showed up for us all year — if there’s a magic recipe, that is it.”
As Velocity prepares to face top-seeded Union Omaha in Nebraska on Sunday, their path to the Final has been a testament to overcoming the odds.
The No. 7 seed club opened the playoffs with a stunning 3-0 upset victory over No. 2 seed Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in the quarterfinals.
One week later, Velocity faced a much different challenge against No. 3 seed Forward Madison FC in the semifinals. After a scoreless 120 minutes of play, Spokane converted all of its penalty kicks to knock off the Flamingos.
“When you get into the playoffs, it’s a very different season,” Veidman said. “So yeah, it’s been phenomenal.”
One of Velocity’s stars during their playoff run has been goalkeeper Brooks Thompson, who has secured three consecutive clean sheets, dating back to the team’s last regular season game, a scoreless draw against the league’s top defensive team One Knoxville SC.
“It’s really special,” Thompson said. “I’ve never been a part of an expansion team, so it’s really interesting to see how well the club has handled it. Seeing all the support from the city means a lot to me and I’m sure it means a lot to everybody on the team.”
Omaha, which advanced directly to the Final in 2020 as an expansion club, has grown into a perennial powerhouse chasing their second championship. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the top two regular season clubs advanced to a Final that ultimately was not played, making top seed Greenville Triumph SC champions. In 2021, the Owls found revenge defeating Greenville for their first championship. In this year’s playoffs, the club defeated the No. 8 seed Richmond Kickers 1-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Greenville Triumph SC 2-1 in the semifinals.
This season, Omaha won the Players’ Shield with the best league record, and set single-season league records for goals per game (2.14) and goal differential (+23).
Across all competitions, Spokane and Omaha have split the season series in the four meetings between the clubs. In the most recent matchup, Omaha notched a 4-0 win at home on Oct. 2.
One of the biggest storylines heading into the championship game centers around Velocity captain and All-USL League One first-team honoree Luis Gil, who will face the club he represented in 2022 and 2023.
“Playing against my former team in the Final, I’m not really thinking about it too much,” Gil said. “We’ve had some good games against them and some bad ones, so we know it’s going to be a battle. Obviously, more is at stake now, but I feel confident with my team. I’m not focusing too much on [Omaha].”
Instead of dwelling on his former team, the 30-year-old is laser-focused on one goal: bringing home a title. He’s also reminded his teammates to have fun while competing.
“I feel like we’ve put in the right amount of work to get to the final, and we just need to keep that momentum going,” Gil said. “I’m here to help lead the guys, and I feel like we’re in a good spot. I just think we need to focus on ourselves and enjoy it. That’s a big thing I like to tell them — enjoy our football, because I know that’s when we get results.”
Gil’s message has resonated with his teammates, including center defensive midfielder Collin Fernandez.
“We’re enjoying every minute of it together, and I think that speaks a lot to the group,” Fernandez said. “I mean, that’s not always easy to do in those moments.”
With momentum on their side and a city behind them, Velocity’s quest for the USL League One Championship title will come full circle on Sunday at noon PDT. It will be broadcast on CBS Sports Golazo, locally on KSKN TV, and Sirius XM channel 392 on radio and 982 on the app. Fans in Spokane can also join the 509 Syndicate-hosted game watch at Flatstick Pub with doors opening at 10 a.m.
