By Henry Krueger, Gonzaga University ’25
Spokane Velocity FC goalkeeper Brooks Thompson made seven saves in his first USL Jägermeister Cup start, but it wasn’t enough to stop Central Valley Fuego FC from edging out a 1-0 victory Friday night in Fresno, California.
Fuego captured their first Jägermeister Cup win behind a goal from Shavon John-Brown, who scored from close range resulting from a corner kick in the 53rd minute. It was John-Brown’s third goal across all competitions.
“The game was definitely frustrating, but just feels unlucky to come out of here with a negative result,” Thompson said. “It’s a tough one but we need to take it on the chin and keep moving.”
The victory places Central Valley (1-1-4) third in the Jägermeister Cup’s West Group, with Velocity (1-3-2) falling to fourth. The region is led by first-place Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, followed by Union Omaha.
With temperatures in the mid-90s throughout the match, Fuego came out aggressive early, taking three shots on target in the first 24 minutes. This kept Velocity’s Thompson busy from the start, with the 21-year-old handling nearly constant pressure from Central Valley.
Thompson made three saves in the first half to keep Fuego scoreless going into halftime. He also had the support of his back line, which recorded 10 clearances and four successful tackles before the end of first-half stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Velocity struggled to turn their defensive stops into goals, registering only one shot on target in the first half. A close opportunity for Spokane came in the 34th minute when Masango Akale dribbled down the left sideline before cutting toward the middle and taking a shot that sailed just right of the goal.
Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, Fuego broke through Velocity’s back line when José Carrera-García delivered a well-placed corner to the far post, where John-Brown buried a shot into the top of the net to put Central Valley ahead 1-0.
Velocity had numerous chances to even the score, including a shot attempt from Kimarni Smith that sailed left of the goal in the 90th minute. Derek Waldeck set up the sequence with a long pass down the left sideline that Smith couldn’t capitalize on, despite having a one-on-one chance against Fuego goalkeeper Carlos Avilez.
Avilez, who kept Velocity off the board through the end of the stoppage time, finished the match with one save and nine recoveries.
Despite coming up empty-handed, Velocity implemented several new strategies, most notably employing a 4-3-3 formation that used Luis Gil, Josh Dolling and Akale to press high up the pitch and attack often.
Another change was defender Ish Jome making his first start in a Velocity uniform since joining the club last month. In 61 minutes of action, Jome earned a 7.0 FotMob rating with a passing accuracy of 74% on 27 attempts. He also took one shot on target and had two recoveries.
“It was a hard fought match that we had the quality to win,” Jome said. “Unfortunately we weren’t up to a standard to finish our opportunities and we gave them too many chances to get a goal, which they ultimately did.”
Velocity returns home for a league match against the Charlotte Independence on July 27, where the club will celebrate Christmas in July with a DJ spinning holiday classics and a festive photo booth for fans.
