Greenville Triumph Wins Home Opener Against Newcomer Spokane Velocity
Greenville, SC - The Triumph welcomed in the new USL expansion team, Spokane Velocity to Paladin Stadium. Head Coach of the Triumph, Rick Wright, made his official debut assuming the top role as he has been an assistant with the club for the last five years. This game had a lot of firsts. This was Spokane’s first official match as a USL 1 club, Coach Wright’s first win, Zion Scarlett’s first professional goal, and multiple new signings' first official minutes for the Triumph.
Both teams started the game determined to build chemistry with their new teammates. Spokane officially broke the deadlock in the first half after a penalty kick was given. Josh Dolling, striker for the Velocity, scored the first official goal for his club after he slotted it home in the lower left corner. Just four minutes after, newcomer Zion Scarlett from the Columbus Crew Academy, scored a worldie after he chipped the defense to score his first professional goal. The 19-year-old is the youngest goal scorer in club history. Scarlett was a chaos merchant during the game as his constant pressure caused the backline of the Velocity to be very shaky.
Scarlett was interviewed after the game by club personnel. Scarlett stated this in regard to scoring his first professional goal, “It’s a great feeling. The whole preseason we’ve been working super hard as a team, and the coaches set out some things that they wanted us to focus on tonight and we did that, which feels great. “And to get my first professional goal, besides my international goal, is a great feeling and I can’t wait to hopefully score more this season.” Triumph fans are happy to see their young striker scoring goals this early into his career. The Philadelphia native’s future is very bright and is off to a fantastic start.
As the second half commenced, the Triumph came out hot on the attack. Scarlett delivered a scrumptious ball into the box and Leo Castro delivered a powerful shot but was deflected back near the penalty by the Spokane goalkeeper. Evan Lee found himself in the right spot at the right time as he slotted the ball in the back of the net to give the Triumph the lead. Around the 60th minute, the Triumph put together the dagger that cut all the momentum that Spokane had built up. Castro brilliantly combined with MacKinnon who then delivered a ball into the six-yard box back to Castro for a beautiful back-heel finish. This goal extended the Triumph’s lead to 3-1.
The latter stages of the match saw Greenville’s young talents, Ben Zakowski, Pascal Corvino, and Oliver Hald, making their professional debuts, further adding to the excitement on the field. Unfortunately for the Velocity, Grayson Dupont suffered a non-contact injury after being subbed on not even five minutes prior. It was a very unlucky injury to be picked up this early into the season. Despite Spokane’s efforts to mount a comeback, Greenville’s dependable defense and clinical finishing proved insurmountable, securing a well-deserved victory.
After the match, Evan Lee was interviewed about the team’s performance. He stated, “I mean it’s incredible, I think we had a really, really good preseason. We brought in a lot of new faces, but it’s kind of rejuvenated us a little bit. I think the energy around the team has been phenomenal, not to mention we see articles that people write, we see those kinds of things. I think that gives us a little extra motivation and to be out here and win the first game three to one is phenomenal.” The Triumph will have an extended break before their next game against Forward Madison on March 23rd. The Velocity will look to gain their first USL win against the Richmond Kickers next Saturday, March 16th.
