‘It’s unbelievable’: First-year expansion team Spokane Velocity is one win away from the USL League One championship

Expansion franchises typically take time to gain traction.

It’s a classic conundrum at all levels of sports, as new teams have new owners, new employees and new players.

The Spokane Velocity are one win away from the championship game after defeating second-seeded Colorado Hailstorm FC in the USL League One playoffs last week.

The consensus across the league is that Velocity FC’s 3-0 victory over Jägermeister Cup champions Colorado was one of the biggest upsets in USL League One playoff history. People point to the seed difference and the fact that expansion teams typically don’t get that far, let alone make the playoffs.

In its fifth season, USL League One is a newer league in American soccer, but Spokane has still found a way to make a name for itself within this league.

The Velocity became the third team to win a postseason game in its first season, while also becoming the first team to enter postseason play with an active winning streak of four or more games.

“It’s unbelievable,” Velocity head coach Leigh Veidman said. “I think the group’s work over the year has gotten them to this point. The fact that we have put ourselves in this position is a huge credit to the players, the club’s staff and the community who have stuck with us and kept us going this season.”

In the postseason, everyone has a 0-0 record, Veidman said, so the past doesn’t matter. It depends on who shows up on game day.

That mentality will be important Saturday when No. 7 Spokane takes on No. 3 Madison FC in the semifinals of the USL League One playoffs at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wisconsin, at 4 p.m.

Spokane is 0-2 against Forward Madison, with a goal difference of 5-0.

Veidman said the experienced Flamingos – who were one of the original League One teams in 2019 – have an established culture and a squad with great depth.

After suffering a 2-0 loss to Madison on the road, Veidman believed Spokane had done enough to win the game until a red card in the 59th minute changed the course of the game.

“They are a strong team on the ball, they want to play possession football, they want to play through the lines,” Veidman said. “Defensively very, very compact, strong defences. They don’t give you much space and put you under pressure at the right moment. Their overall game plan is very solid and they are a very well-coached team.”

In the first round of the playoffs, forward Madison held Charlotte Independence to six shots, none on goal, while also managing 16 shots.

Christian Chaney and Devin Boyce lead the Flamingos with six goals each, but Mitchell Osmond has completed a league-best 1,422 passes this season.

This week was spent putting together a game plan that would provide a chance to take Spokane to the title game.

In the third match, Veidman said Spokane would stay true to its principles and tactical approach. There will be some changes made to Forward Madison’s style of play, but Veidman said they will maintain the strategy that makes them a final four team.

After taking a 3-0 lead against Colorado last week, the tactic paid off and maintained that lead for 90 minutes.

Having Veidman at the helm during the playoffs was beneficial as he served as an assistant coach with Charleston Battery during the 2023 season. The Battery reached the finals last season.

“The biggest thing I learned from this is that consistency is key, not changing the environment and not treating this game any differently,” he said. “Emotionally it feels different, but when you start changing your environment, how you train, when you train, what you do in training, your tone changes. As a coach you’re just starting to change.”

Football players are superstitious and have their routines. You can tell when things are being optimized.

Veidman said those changes could change the atmosphere and build pressure and that Spokane doesn’t need that. With their uniqueness, the playoffs already create a natural pressure point.

No changes need to be made, he said. Spokane plays the way Spokane plays.

“At the end of this season, someone who is a spectator, a fan, a neutral fan can look back at our team and say, ‘Hey, that’s a Spokane Velocity team.’ We can see that in how they play, in their work, in their style of play,” Veidman said.

Implementing an identity is not an easy task in the first year, which often prevents teams from making the playoffs.

Spokane, one of three teams to reach the USL League One playoffs in its first season, was confident from day one.

Veidman said his logical brain knew history was going against his team, but his competitor’s brain said otherwise.

“Deep down inside I wanted to be in the playoffs this year, yeah, I want to win this thing,” he said. “There are still two games and the championship left to play. But what we have already achieved is simply incredible.”

The winner will face either Union Omaha or Greenville Triumph SC in the final.