Spokane Velocity FC wins Group 1, advances in Prinx Tires USL Cup

Spokane Velocity FC turned Saturday night into a live scoreboard watch and came out on top, beating Athletic Club Boise 2-1 at One Spokane Stadium to finish first in Group 1 of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup. Camron Miller scored Spokane’s first goal, Andre Lewis struck three minutes later, and Blake Bodily’s 76th-minute reply for Boise kept the finish tight until the final whistle.

The result mattered because Spokane did not control the whole picture. In the third edition of the tournament, the group stage ran from April 25 through July 11, and only seven group winners plus one wild card moved on, with goals scored serving as the first tiebreaker if teams finished level on points. Spokane needed a regulation win, or a shootout win with enough goals, and it also needed Athletic Club Boise to help turn back Sacramento Republic FC. Spokane took care of its own side of the equation, and the rest of the group results eventually broke its way.

That tension had been building all summer. Sacramento Republic FC had already beaten Spokane 4-0 earlier in Group 1 at Heart Health Park, with Mayele Malango scoring twice and Tyler Wolff and Michel Benitez adding goals in a result that showed how quickly the group could swing. Sacramento then stayed in the mix with a 5-3 shootout win over Monterey Bay FC after a 1-1 draw, a match that included Jared Timmer’s first-half red card, Riley Bidois’s opening goal for Monterey Bay, Michel Benitez’s penalty to force the shootout and Ryan Spaulding’s decisive kick. By the final night, Spokane, Sacramento, Athletic Club Boise, Las Vegas Lights FC, Monterey Bay FC and Oakland Roots SC were all still tangled in a group where every goal carried weight.

Finishing first gives Spokane the cleaner knockout path, and in a Cup built around margins, that is a major reward. The quarterfinals are scheduled for August 12, with the final set for October 2-4, and Velocity now goes into August with control of its route instead of waiting on the bracket to sort itself out.