After one of the most dramatic comebacks in club history, the Spokane Velocity are going to the USL League One Finals for the second year in a row.
In the final minute of overtime, Velocity midfielder Nil Vinyals scored the equalizer against Portland Hearts of Pine and sent the semi-final game into a shootout… for the second playoff game in a row.
Velocity lost their season’s perfect penalty kick record when Andre Lewis’s kick was blocked.
But thanks to a save from Velocity goalkeeper Carlos Merancio, each team scored 4 of 5 allotted free kicks.
That sent the game to sudden death. One more save by Merancio meant Spokane was headed to the championship.
Velocity Captain Luis Gil was one of many who had trouble handling the drama.
“Oh, my God, I need to see a doctor or something," he said. "My blood pressure was like through the roof.”
The win against Portland was especially sweet since the team from Maine handed Spokane one of its worst defeats during the regular season.
"I mean, it feels good, obviously—it's like a revenge win," Gil said. "But I mean, in the playoffs, it's do or die."
Head coach Leigh Veidman said the game shouldn’t have been that close.
“I was very surprised we didn't win it comfortably, to be candid," he said. "We had probably two, three huge chances and we should have walked away with this game in a much more comfortable state than we did, but we didn't and that's just how it goes sometimes.”
Veidman added that Velocity's grit and determination came not only from themselves, but the city they represent.
"Everybody in this city works hard all week and then they come out here and spend their hard earned money on us to come and watch us and support us," he said. "We've got to replicate that hard work, too."
Velocity will head to Tennessee next weekend to play first seed One Knox for the championship. If Velocity's first to playoff games are any indication, it's going to be a tough battle.
"Obviously, it's a final. So it doesn't really matter who you play—it's going to be a tough game no matter what," said Velocity defender Davíd Garcia. "They've shown that they're a very good team. Very solid, defensively very good—and especially at home. Obviously they won the regular season...and our job is to go there and finish their streak."
Garcia won a USL League One final in 2023 with North Carolina FC. Both Garcia and Gil were named to the League One All-League first team this season.
You can watch the League One final game this Sunday at 2 pm PST on ESPN+.
