Spokane Velocity concedes late goal in season-opening 2-2 draw with One Knoxville

The Spokane Velocity opened its 2025 campaign with a 2-2 draw against One Knoxville after conceding a game-tying goal in the final minutes on a gusty Sunday evening at ONE Spokane Stadium.

Both teams struggled to find their footing for most of the first half as they only put up six combined shots. Spokane was still able to control possession in the first half with 54.2%.

Later in the 40th minute, Spokane broke the scoreless deadlock as it seized a late first-half lead from a goal by defender Camron Miller. On a corner kick, Derek Waldeck found Miller in the crowded goalie box, and from within feet of the frame, Miller tapped the ball with his head and tucked it in to the back of the net.

“(Waldeck) always puts a good ball into the near post. I was expecting it to be there, and when it arrived, it was there, and I put it in,” Miller said.

It only took a couple of minutes into the second period for Spokane to find the net again as Waldeck blasted the ball from the right corner of the field, by way of another corner kick. The ball sailed in the air, bounced off Knoxville’s Mikkel Golling, and curved into the top left corner, inches underneath the crossbar, giving Spokane a 2-0 cushion.

“My job is to put the ball in the dangerous area … try to score a goal … I was able to do that” Waldeck said.

Despite the deficit, One Knoxville muscled their way back as Spokane exhibited signs of exhaustion in the final 30 minutes. At the 60-minute mark, Knoxville defender Jaheim Brown fed Golling the ball. Golling then rifled it past Velocity goalkeeper Carlos Merancio Valdez.

Spokane found themselves on the defensive side of the ball in the last period, more than they had in the first half. As fatigue continued to settle in, the Velocity struggled to take care of the ball.

“We were sloppy with some passes and gave up possession and had to … defend a bit more in the last half hour, which isn’t ideal. It’s not how we want to play,” Waldeck said.

At the 90 minute-mark, Spokane conceded a last-minute equalizer as Knoxville forwards Stavros Zarokostas and Angelo Kelly-Rosales connected on a lob pass from Zarokostas. With the ball landing a few inches in front of him Kelly-Rosales slid on the grass, and with the bottom of his foot, he pushed the ball past Valdez.

“I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit after that second goal,” Waldeck said. “Some of it is the physical side of it. We are still building fitness. We definitely saw some of that fatigue start to play in and we let them get on top of the game.”

Spokane Velocity head coach Leigh Veidman shared Waldeck’s sentiments.

“You saw there was fatigue very quickly tonight, around the 60th or 70th minute. I think that was the challenge in part to tonight,” he said. “But listen, we take it on the chin, we move forward.”

Spokane will next face expansion club Naples (1-0-1) Saturday at ONE Spokane Stadium at 4 p.m.