Spokane Velocity outmatched by Union Omaha in USL1 championship 3-0; remain ‘proud of what we achieved this year’

Spokane Velocity FC made a stunning run to the USL League One final, but there weren’t any more surprises in store during the title match.

The top team in USL1, Union Omaha wasn’t caught off guard by the underdogs from Spokane. The Owls outclassed the seventh-seeded Velocity, running away with a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon in the USL1 final at Werner Park in Papillion, Nebraska.

“We didn’t expect (to be here), but we believed in ourselves. Every guy in that locker room believed in each other,” Velocity coach Leigh Veidman said. “It’s football. These things happen. It’s been a fun ride to this point, but you face a team like Omaha … they’re incredibly solid and deep with high-level players, and they have an identity they’ve built over two or three years.

“It’s disappointing, but we gotta try to zoom out and be proud of what we achieved this year.”

Spokane (9-10-6) turned heads during its magical inaugural season, becoming the first USL1 club to win a playoff match in its first year. The Velocity upset Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC 3-0 in the quarterfinals and won a thrilling penalty-kick shootout against Forward Madison in the semis, but seasonlong title favorite Union Omaha (18-4-3) was too strong of a challenge to overcome.

“It stings to lose like that, but hats off to them,” Spokane captain Luis Gil said. “They played the way they wanted to.”

The Owls set the tone immediately, earning a corner kick in the third minute. Joe Gallardo sent a perfect cross into the box to Max Schneider, who cashed in on a header.

Union Omaha earned another corner in the 19th minute, and Gallardo fired another well-placed kick into the penalty area. The ball deflected off a player and trickled to star striker Pedro Dolabella, who converted on an easy straightaway shot to make it 2-0.

“The set pieces were key for them,” Veidman said of the two corner kicks. “They got those two set pieces at the start and both ended up in goals. When you go down 2-0 in Omaha in the first 20 minutes, the uphill climb gets a lot steeper.

“Outside of the set pieces, I thought we played decently. We didn’t cause enough danger in the attacking third … but I thought we played fairly well. Those two set pieces were the difference, really.”

Omaha scored the dagger in the 71st minute. Lagos Kunga shook a Spokane defender in the penalty area and tipped in a left-footed shot to fashion the final score.

Spokane had a few decent looks late in the first half and early in the second, but overall the Velocity struggled to find chances against an Owls club that dictated the flow of the match throughout the day. Spokane finished with three total shots (none on target) against Omaha’s 19 (eight on target).

“They’re a top team that’s been building their identity for a while,” Spokane midfielder Jack Denton said. “They all know where they need to be. When there’s a loose ball or a second ball, they always seemed to be in the right place. They know their system and executed their game plan, and the better team won today.”

While the ending was bitter, the Velocity’s season shouldn’t be seen as anything less than an overwhelming success, an exceptional start that will create optimism around the club going forward.

“It’s gonna be amazing for the future of this team,” Gil said of the inaugural campaign. “We weren’t expected to be in this situation and we overcame a lot of odds. There weren’t many expectations, being a first-season team, but we overcame that. You can tell Spokane is here to stay and you can see a bright future for this team.”

Considering all the uncertainty surrounding a first-year franchise, Spokane might have seemed like a long shot to even make the playoffs, but the Velocity were surprisingly consistent in the early and middle portions of the season before going winless over their last seven matches.

Still, they did enough to become the third club in USL1 history to qualify for the playoffs in its inaugural season. Not satisfied with that, Spokane became the first team to win a playoff game in its inaugural season, then took it a step further, becoming the first expansion club to make the final in its first year.

Along the way, the Velocity built a foundation, boosting soccer enthusiasm around Spokane and gaining a loyal fan base.

“Every player and every staff member believed in something bigger than themselves, and that was building something special in Spokane,” Veidman said. “If you asked me at the start of the year if we’d be in the USL League One final, I’d say it’s football and anything is possible, but it’s going to be really difficult to achieve that. But the people who have come together, from ownership down to the players and staff, have brought something really special here. It’s been an incredible journey and I hope we’ve made our fans proud and set a really solid foundation for this club and community.”

The club sees its inaugural season as a springboard for future success. Perhaps Spokane Velocity FC will evolve into a club that’s not a surprise title entrant, but a regular contender in the USL1.

“(Playing) in the final in our first season, we’re very happy, of course,” Spokane midfielder Javier Martin Gil said. “We didn’t win it, but in the future we’ll play to win the championship.”