Las Vegas Lights FC owned the match on paper Sunday afternoon, but Spokane Velocity FC owned the only goal. Spokane scored early, went down a man for nearly the entire second half, and still held on for a 1-0 win over the Lights in Prinx Tires USL Cup group play at ONE Spokane Stadium.
Nil Vinyals scored in the seventh minute, and that was the separator. The Lights finished with 65.6% possession and outshot Spokane 17-4, putting four shots on goal to Spokane’s three. Spokane goalkeeper Sean Lewis finished with four saves, and Las Vegas could not find the final touch to turn pressure into an equalizer.
Early goal, long chase
Las Vegas picked up an early yellow when Kyle Scott was booked in the fifth minute. Two minutes later, Spokane cashed in, with Vinyals scoring at 7 to put the hosts ahead 1-0.
From there, the match turned into a familiar script for the Lights: control, territory, and a scoreboard that would not budge. Las Vegas also won the corner count 5-2, but its best spells ended without a clean finish.
Red card changes the math, not the score
Spokane midfielder Medgy Alexandre was sent off with a red card in the 52nd minute, giving Las Vegas a one-man advantage for the final stretch. The Lights kept pushing and kept stacking attacks, but Spokane stayed compact and protected the center of the box.
Lights communications captured the frustration afterward.
“This is unacceptable,” defender Aaron Guillen said in remarks released by the club. “They go a man down for almost 45 minutes and we’re not able to create a pure chance.”
Coach Devin Rensing echoed the same point through Lights communications.
“You can’t be a man up against a team like that for 45 minutes and not come away with the result,” Rensing said.
Discipline and lineup notes
Las Vegas finished with three yellow cards, adding cautions to Abraham Okyere in the 71st minute and Benjamin Ofeimu in stoppage time at 90+5. Spokane drew two yellows to go with Alexandre’s red card.
Mason Stajduhar started in goal for the Lights, and Las Vegas lined up in a 4-4-2.
USL Cup picture
The loss left the Lights at 0-1-1 with 1 point in group play. Spokane moved to 1-0-1 with 3 points.
Up next
Las Vegas returns to USL Championship play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 23, hosting Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Cashman Field. The match will stream on ESPN+, with the Lights at 2-2-5 and 8 points and Colorado Springs at 2-4-2 and 10 points.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
