Spokane Velocity bolstered depth in offseason, return with eyes set on championship

Heading into their third season, the Spokane Velocity are returning 15 of 22 players from the 2025 team that made history, appearing in its second consecutive USL League One final.

That’s 15 players who were part of an offense that scored the sixth-most goals in the league (44), and a dominant defense that only allowed 37 and went 14-7-9 in the regular season.

That’s also 15 players – including nine of Spokane’s top 10 minutes leaders – who suffered a 2-0 championship loss after surrendering an early goal to ONE Knoxville.

With only a few holes to fill in the offseason, coach Leigh Veidman and his staff used the opportunity to be more intentional about strengthening specific areas of the field they felt needed improvement. They were able to sign quality players, even in what Veidman called an “inflated” transfer market.

Despite losing 2025 All-League first-team defender David Garcia, who logged a team-best 225 clearances and 22 blocks, Veidman and his staff reforged the back line with proven veterans Simon Fitch, Nick Spielman and Moses Mensah.

Last season, Fitch had 93 clearances, 14 interceptions and seven blocks with the Richmond Kickers, and Spielman led Charlotte Independence with 170 clearances, 21 blocks and 15 interceptions.

Mensah, from Cape Coast, Ghana, amassed 4,000 minutes in 75 matches for USL Championship club Birmingham Legion from 2022 to 2025.

Those three will line up with returnees Derek Waldeck, Camron Miller and Lucky Opara. Miller had 170 clearances, 18 blocks and 18 interceptions last year. Opara led the team with 31 interceptions, and Waldeck won a team-high 40 tackles.

Spokane, picked No. 3 in the preseason power rankings, also bolstered its attacking front with fifth-year veteran Joe Gallardo, who scored 13 goals in his last three years with the Union Omaha Owls. In the 2024 USL League One championship against Spokane, he earned Finals MVP for his one assist, four tackles and one clearance performance. Gallardo also had stints in the USL Championship with Orlando City B (2017) and St. Louis SC Monarchs (2020). Growing up in San Diego, Gallardo represented the U.S. U-15, U-17 and U-19 teams and scored 19 goals in 32 matches in international play.

Veidman hopes the midfielder can improve Spokane’s expected goals rate where he said it “underperformed” in 2025.

“Last year our xG (expected goals) was 55,” he said. “We scored 45.

“We were highest in the league in chance creation … we just didn’t convert the goals. Joe’s proven to do that. He won the championship against us two years ago.”

Veidman added: “He knows how to get the business done, and we need those types of players who can help us close that gap. … Joe brings in that caliber.

“He’s good one-versus-one, good on his left foot, can come outside, can go inside as a winger. So, he’s difficult to defend.”

Gallardo will join an attack led by Anuar Pelaez, the team’s leading scorer with 10 goals last season, and 2025 All-League first-teamer Luis Gil, who registered 51 chances created, 38 shots and three assists.

Spokane is also returning midfielders Jack Denton, Andre Lewis and Collin Fernandez. Lewis and Fernandez completed 87.5% of their passes. Denton led the team with a 91.3% rate.

Also returning is goalkeeper Carlos Merancio, who ranked second in the league with 79 saves and third with 10 clean sheets.

Veidman said retaining a majority of his previous roster was “huge.”

“You save so much time.”

That time saved is used to make slight tweaks on the systems they already have in place, and assimilate the newcomers into them.

“You have a lot less work to do to integrate the squad and integrate them into how we want to play,” he said. “If we’ve got Joe Gallardo on the left with Derek Waldeck, Joe’s a new profile that Derek hasn’t played with. It makes it a little bit easier from that perspective.”

Merancio, who has been with the team since its first season and earned All-League second-team honors last year, made it clear that Spokane has its sights set on winning the championship.

Midfielder Nil Vinyals said if “players that had (a) great season last year, like Luis (Gil), Carlos (Merancio), and Collin (Fernandez)” can elevate or maintain their level of play like last season, the “new additions … are gonna help us … hopefully end first in the regular season, so then it’s easier playing at home in the final.”

“The standard of the club is very high now,” Merancio said. “We are not (just) an average team. … What people ask for us is higher now.”

To be a championship-contending team, Veidman said that “it’s about the guys in the locker room.”

“There’s got to be a real togetherness, a competitiveness, a desire to win. And when you remove all the X’s and O’s, and the tactics, I think we’ve had that across the board.”