A record crowd of at least 5,000* at Virtue Field saw the two best teams in USL2 go toe-to-toe for 98 minutes, in a bruising, fast-paced match that ended with Vermont Green hoisting the National Championship trophy for the first time in their young history, becoming the first side in USL2 to go undefeated wire to wire. Green won the final 2-1 over Ballard FC on Saturday.
As anticipated, the sides played a physical brand of soccer that was a fitting representation of their regular-season and playoff runs, as well as their hunger to win trophies. There was no sitting back and countering. There was no Route One football. Both teams played on the front foot all night, attacked on the wings, and gave fans at the match in Burlington and at the official Ballard watch parties at Reuben’s Brews in Seattle a high-quality final.
Both clubs had early chances. Ballard FC keeper Stockton Short came up with a big save in the 9th, which gave his team a chance to settle into the game. Short would stand tall all night and make several vital saves.
Missed opportunities marked the remainder of the first 45 minutes. Joe Dale will want his 18th-minute chance back. Richie Aman broke free on the right and served a great ball to Dale’s feet, but he skied it over the bar.
The teams would trade chances and fouls in the up-and-down affair for the remainder of the first half. It looked to everyone but the Ballard defense and the assistant referee that Vermont had gone ahead in the 23rd minute after The Bridges failed to clear a ball from the 6 yard box, but after the ball was scuffed over the line, the flag went up and the play was called offside.
Minutes later, Vermont’s Arnaud Tattevin dragged a wide-open shot wide of the frame, and not long after that effort, Vermont was literal inches from giving up a handball penalty, but the center referee correctly marked it just outside the box. Luke Hammond’s cross on the restart sailed wide, ending the threat.
In the 38th minute, in what was a mirror of the Vermont chance earlier, Ballard jumped on a loose ball in the Vermont box and got three swipes at it. Keeper Niklas Hereg saved the first, but his centerbacks had to clear the next two attempts off the line.
Both teams seemed content to get to the locker rooms after 1 minute of added time in the first half.
The second half started off just like the first, with both teams wanting the ball and looking to attack. A battle between Khai Brisco and Vermont’s Ian Abbey, that had been brewing all night, resulted in Abbey going down in the box and drawing a 48th-minute penalty on Brisco. Julien Le Bourdoulous calmly passed the penalty attempt into the left side of the goal to open the scoring.
Then the yellow cards started to fly. Vermont’s Victor Akoum picked up a silly card for dissent in the 54th minute. In the 57th, Ballard’s Sean Sent was cautioned for a hard foul. The goal by Vermont changed the scoreline, but the tone and tenor of the match remained the same: fast and physical.
Coach James Riley went to his bench in the 60th minute. Omar Yehya, Omar Gray, and Andre Philibbosian coming on for Khai Brisco, Joe Dale, and Sean Sent.
Mere moments later, the subs paid off when Omar Yehya curved a beautiful cross in from the right side. All Charlie Kosokoff had to do was get his head on it to direct it into the net and level the score.
After an 85th minute impromptu hydration break brought to you by an injury to Luke Hammond down with a cramp in the 85th, it looked like the match was headed for extra time, but Vermont won corner in the 91st that would end up as the winning play.
After the initial ball sailed through the box and seemingly out of danger, a pass into Maximilian Kissel somehow got behind the Ballard defense and Kissel knocked it in to go ahead 2-1.
The Bridges would have two more half-chances at the equalizer, but it just wasn’t to be. The referee blew the whistle at 98 minutes, and the celebration in Burlington was on.
This was Ballard’s second final in three years, and though they will want some chances back, this is not a game that the players or coaches have anything to hang their heads about.
Vermont Green FC have their first championship, and it’s easy to see them challenging for more in the near future. This national final brought together two of the best franchises in US soccer, and the energy on and around the field in Burlington was indicative of the quality both clubs bring to the game. In an evolving American soccer landscape, these two clubs are harbingers of what is to come, and both are models of how locally engaged clubs can build devoted fanbases and develop the next generation of professional players.
Most of the players who featured today will head back to their college teams for the fall season, and both teams will set about the daunting off-season task of rebuilding their rosters for another run.
*Virtue Field holds 2,500 ticketed fans, but estimates are that at least that many crowded onto the grass at either end of the field to watch the match.
