Anuar Pelaez scores, Velocity achieve eighth clean sheet in 1-0 shutout over Forward Madison

MADISON, Wis. – Star forward Anuar Pelaez scored his eighth goal of the season to lift the Spokane Velocity over Forward Madison 1-0 and back into first place in the USL League One on Thursday at Breese Stevens Field.

Pelaez converted Spokane’s lone shot on target in the 38th minute off an assist from Andre Lewis from inside the penalty area.

Pelaez nearly scored another goal toward the end of the half after taking a lead pass from Nil Vinyals. In a one-on-one situation against the goalkeeper, the Colombian forward sprinted down the right side of the field and took a shot from inside the box, but it missed by a few feet outside of the opposite post.

Forward Madison outshot Spokane 15-4, but Velocity’s David Garcia led with 16 defensive contributions, including 12 of the Velocity’s 40 clearances to help Spokane earn its eighth clean sheet, a league-best.

Goalkeeper Carlos Merancio also logged four saves with three of them inside the box for Spokane.

The Velocity (11-2-5) continue their road trip against One Knoxville (9-2-7) on Aug. 30 at Covenant Health Park at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.