SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane Velocity are two-for-two on years of existing and playoff runs, but this weekend marks another first: hosting a playoff match.
“I think it’s amazing,” Velocity defender Ismaila Jome said. “That was an objective for us this year, so we’re so glad we’re able to make that happen.”
Spokane ended the regular season at third in the USL League One, good for hosting a playoff match against South Georgia Tormenta FC.
“It really brings the community together to see a playoff game, and hopefully we can go, of course, all the way, which is the objective, taking it one game at a time,” Velocity midfielder Nil Vinyals said.
The players and coaches remain ecstatic ahead of the fixture, as they should be, as Tormenta fell 1-0 to the Velocity the last time these teams played at ONE Spokane Stadium.
“It’s everything,” head coach Leigh Veidman said. “It really is. You sleep in your own bed, eating your own meals with your family and friends around you, and then to be at ONE Spokane with our fans behind us, it’s every advantage you can get in the playoff format is huge.”
Spokane was at the top of the table most of the season, but they dipped over July, and just wrapped a four-point, three-match 10-day road trip that included a 6-1 drubbing to Portland. Veidman mentioned how a loss like that this late in the season can boost the team more than deflate it.
“Sounds counter-intuitive coming from a professional team that wants to win every game, but we’ve had the benefit of being a pretty strong team all season with a couple dips here and there, which is normal in football,” Veidman said. “But we got humbled a little bit in that game, and I think it came at a good time for us, and our response was everything in that Omaha game, and I think we saw a much better performance and a lesson learned, hopefully.”
Kickoff against South Georgia is Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
