By Cam McCann, Gonzaga University ’25
With Spokane’s first season in USL League One having come to a close, fans can turn their attention to how the 2025 club roster is shaping up.
With 13 players returning (pending league and federation approval) from a roster that made a historic playoff run League One won’t soon forget, there is plenty to be excited about next season. Nine of these players were a part of the starting 11 from the final match against Union Omaha.
This continuity should allow for the team to grow an identity, something head coach Leigh Veidman has said the team needs to develop to become a championship-caliber club.
“Do we have an identity?” Veidman asked rhetorically in a press conference just days before the finale against Omaha. “Yes we do, [but] we still need to develop it… that’s what is going to help us win these types of games.”
Captain Luis Gil, one of the biggest keys to this identity, returns after leading the club in total goal involvements. Gil was the straw that stirred the drink for Spokane, operating as a midfielder that pushed the tempo and capitalized on the opponents’ defensive mishaps. One of these key moments happened in a match against Omaha in ONE Spokane Stadium on Sept. 4, when Gil intercepted a poor backpass in Velocity’s attacking third, dribbling his way to the goal before gliding past the keeper to score.
Gil had multiple huge moments this past season, but this match in particular gave hope to another midfield playmaker that returns to Spokane in 2025.
“That’s the game where I started to think like, ‘Yeah we can put something together here,’” said midfielder Andre Lewis.
Lewis put back four goals for Velocity in regular season play, earning Week 16 Player of the Week honors after three goal contributions in a single week. Lewis’ playmaking in the midfield was explosive, and his thunderous shots from outside the box provided ONE Spokane Stadium with plenty of memorable moments.
Jack Denton, Pierre Reedy and Collin Fernandez are the remaining midfielders who will be back in a Velocity uniform next season.
Fans likely still remember Denton’s first professional goal, as it came in Velocity’s 3-0 shelling over No. 2 seed Northern Colorado Hail Storm FC in the League One playoff’s opening round. The goal came off a cross to the deep middle of the box, where Denton needed just one touch to put the ball away from the keeper’s reach. His goal was the final of the game, and truly put away any hope for a Hailstorm comeback.
Fernandez has never said he’s a flashy player; in fact, he’s claimed to be the opposite.
“My job is to make the other people’s job on the field as easy as possible,” Fernandez said.
As a defensive-minded center midfielder, Fernandez doesn’t always get the gaudy numbers that fill up a stat sheet. Instead, he does the little things that help a team achieve great things. In the second round of the League One Playoffs, Fernandez had maybe the most important stat of the night.
Stepping into a score-and-advance situation, Fernandez was a penalty shot away from sending an expansion team to the league final in its very first season. Sure enough, the 27-year-old got the ball in the back of the net, and became the man of the hour for those cheering on Spokane.
Pierre Reedy spent most of the season out with a hip injury, but started the season off well, playing full time in 10 of his outings and picking up a pair of assists and a goal. When healthy, Reedy adds a solid ability as an outside midfielder who can help push the pace.
While the midfield returns integral members of the club from early on, the returning forwards were both midseason additions who ended up playing key roles down the stretch.
Masango Akale came on as a trialist in an international friendly match against Chivas De Guadalajara’s U23 club, where he impressed enough to quickly earn a spot on the roster. He made a name for himself early, scoring in back-to-back home matches soon after being signed.
The 22-year-old brings plenty of youthful optimism to the growth of the attacking third. His current partner up top looks to be the 31-year-old Colombian, Anuar Peláez, a much later addition to the club.
Peláez was signed in August, and was able to knock back a couple of goals for the team, including a second score against NoCo in the playoff match that extended Velocity’s lead. His athleticism and defensive pressure applied to the opponents backline gave Veidman plenty to work off of.
Velocity’s defense was the magic element in its playoff run, shutting out both Forward Madison and Northern Colorado in regular or extra time, as the only time the ball landed in Velocity’s goal was in the penalty shootout against Madison.
The defense will look to keep plenty of key members over to next season, with Derek Waldeck, Ish Jome, Javier Martín Gil, Camron Miller and Marcelo Lage making their return.
With the exception of Jome, who replaced Akale as a sub in the 74th minute, the quartet of Waldeck, Martín Gil, Miller and Lage comprised the entire backline at the start of the final match, and made one huge defensive play after another.
Miller also caused havoc off of Velocity set pieces, scoring multiple headers off set pieces in less than a month’s time, making him the highest scoring member of the backline, and a dangerous weapon at Veidman’s disposal.
Waldeck came into the backline at the start of the year as a veteran who had already won a pair of championships at Stanford University. His poise as both a key member of the backline as well as one of Velocity’s main set piece kickers has been a crucial element to the club’s success. His 39 chances created in regular season play was tied for sixth in League One and second on Velocity behind Luis Gil, who registered 40.
Lage and Martín Gil also both played critical roles in preventing opponents from finding easy scoring routes against the backline. Lage won a spot on the Week 19 Team of the Week, and was fourth in the league in total passes and third in clearances by the end of the season. Martín Gil was the defender with the second-most chances created on Velocity, with 20.
The final player to return to Velocity is goalkeeper Carlos Merancio. Despite being replaced by Brooks Thompson – whose loan has expired and will head back to Hartford Athletic – Merancio still ended with three recorded clean sheets, collecting more than any Central Valley Fuego FC keeper, and just as many as Chattanooga Red Wolves SC keeper TJ Bush.
