April 27, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Spokane Velocity FC News Release
A costly foul in stoppage time spoiled a 1-0 lead for Spokane Velocity FC, which earned a point in Saturday’s Jägermeister Cup opener but ultimately fell 2-4 in penalty kicks against Central Valley Fuego FC.
The inaugural USL Jagermeister Cup is an in-season tournament separate from the regular season standings. Matches that end in a draw award one point to each team. The team that wins penalty kicks earns an additional point.
Fuego’s late comeback began with midfielder Robert Coronado converting a penalty kick to send the match into a penalty shootout. It ended with striker Zahir Vazquez burying Central Valley’s fifth and final penalty attempt to silence the crowd of 4,181 fans at ONE Spokane Stadium.
“First off, we did a really good job in staying compact, really good job winning our duals in the first half,” said head coach Leigh Veidman. “That’s a good attacking team, they are one of the best attacking teams statistically in the league. And we were aware of that going into the game … they made the change in the second half and we were not quite as good in our defensive side of the game in the second half,” continued Veidman.
Velocity and Fuego begin the Jägermeister Cup’s group stage with draws – Fuego earning an extra point for winning penalty kicks – where they are joined in the West Region by Union Omaha and Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Velocity had won its first 3 matches at home prior to today’s draw, and was coming off a win at Richmond last Saturday.
“I feel like we still created chances. Perhaps we could have had a little bit more quality at the end of it. I know me personally, I had a couple of chances,” said midfielder Luis Gill.
“I think just being smarter with our play as well. Picking the right times when we should go forward. When we should keep it … but we’ve got to be smart as well and protect our lead and be smart when we create certain chances and then at the end of it finishing,” continued Gill.
Both teams attacked aggressively in the opening minutes, but struggled to convert scoring
chances into goals. One of those opportunities came in the sixth minute when Velocity left back Derek Waldeck delivered a cross from the left endline to the six-yard box, where striker Josh Dolling’s shot was saved by Fuego goalkeeper Andre Zuluaga.
Velocity continued applying pressure on Fuego’s back line until left wing Pierre Reedy was able to bury a shot from just…