Vermont Green’s 2026 U.S. Open Cup journey came to a heartbreaking end on Wednesday night, falling to USL1’s Westchester SC 4-3 on penalties. A sellout crowd was on hand to witness the Boys in Green hold the pros to just one shot on target in 120 minutes of football. In the shootout, Niklas Herceg made two incredible saves, but so too did the Westchester keeper, and the Green suffered their first defeat since July 21, 2024.
The U.S. Open Cup is magic.
Chris Taylor’s starting XI for the Second Round: Niklas Herceg in goal. Brandon Marshall and Egor Akulov at centerback, flanked by Riley Moloney and Luca Nikolai at left and right back, respectively. Connor Miller and Tyler Caton were called upon again in the double-pivot. In the attack, David Ismail moved into the attacking midfield role, with Ryan Zellefrow on the left wing, and Marco Dos Santos on the right. Mitch Baker made his debut up top.
The Vermonters came out on the front foot and enjoyed the majority of possession. The Green played direct out of the gate, with Caton and Miller dictating the play, trying to ignite the front four.
Despite a handful of half-chances, the Green were unable to launch a major threat, and the first half ended scoreless.
Taylor made no changes at half time, and looked to further break down the Westchester defense that became even more cagey after the break. The New Yorkers functionally deployed a back six, looking almost exclusively to absorb the Green attack and try to spring their striker on the counter. Despite this, Vermont’s centerback tandem of Marshall and Akulov, as well as Herceg, were largely untested.
Taylor eventually injected more into the forward effort with his second half substitutions: Alex Hall and Andrew Millar came on to add fresh legs on the wings. Brendan Lambe came into the engine room, replacing Caton, and Nikos Clarke-Tocszak came in at right back.
The Green spent the second half running at Westchester, but were unable to penetrate. The professionals prioritized slowing down the game until the regulation whistle blew.
The match went into two 15-minute periods of extra time. The Green continued to be the ones looking to win the game, but still to no avail. Martin Bakken made his debut late in extra time, replacing David Ismail. Westchester were content in their time-wasting tactics.
The match went to penalties. Niklas Herceg made two brilliant saves, but it was not enough to send the Green to the Round of 32.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the Vermonters.
Despite the heartbreak of defeat, the magic of the Open Cup was still visible to those looking on. A group of talented student athletes, in the middle of their school week and some far from home, took a professional team to the brink. 2,500 raucous fans supported them until the final moment on a cold weeknight in April, turning out for a team whose regular season doesn’t start until mid-May. Despite the undefeated streak ending, the relationship between the community and the club appeared to be stronger than ever after the whistle, as fans consoled the Boys in Green who couldn’t help but show their emotions.
The Open Cup provides a platform for clubs like Vermont Green to express themselves on the national stage. We are devastated to have so narrowly missed our chance to go further than we ever have, and to explore new heights and new opponents, but the overwhelming feeling after the end of our run is a familiar one: gratitude. We are grateful to participate in the oldest tournament in U.S. Soccer’s storied history, we are grateful to the players that sacrificed and battled and wore the badge with pride, and we are perhaps most grateful for the thousands of Vermonters who back this team in any competition, in any weather, and no matter the result.
Thank you Vermont, and long live the Open Cup.
STATS & FACTS
- It was the first meeting between the two clubs, who sit at different levels of the American soccer pyramid: Westchester in the fully professional, year-round USL1, and Vermont in the pre-professional, summer-only USL2.
- Three players made their Vermont Green debut (Nikolai, Baker, Bakken).
- With his clean sheet, Niklas Herceg has tied Nathan Schnur for the most in club history (7).
- The Green had more possession (61%), and had the advantage in total shots (13-7), shots on target (5-1), touches in opposition box (28-13), corners (9-1), and total passes (634-426).
- Alex Hall wore the 7 shirt for the first time. He wore 24 during the 2025 season.
- Center referee Thomas Snyder—who sent off Westchester head coach George Gjokaj for dissent—has officiated more than 100 professional soccer matches, including NWSL and USL Championship contests.
- Vermont Green narrowly missed out on the John Motta Trophy, awarded to the amateur club that advances furthest in the U.S. Open Cup. Asheville City SC claimed the trophy—and the $50,000 cash prize—on the goal differential tiebreaker.
- It was Vermont Green’s first defeat in 619 days. The last defeat was July 21, 2024.
LINEUPS
Vermont Green FC — Niklas Herceg, Luca Nikolai (Nikos Clarke-Tosczak 79′), Brandon Marshall, Egor Akulov, Riley Moloney, Connor Miller, Tyler Caton (Brendan Lambe 69′), Ryan Zellefrow (Alex Hall 70′), Marco Dos Santos (Andrew Millar 79′), David Ismail (Martin Bakken 117′), Mitch Baker.
Unused Subs — Ryan Carney, Philipp Schmidtke. Head Coach — Chris Taylor.
Westchester SC — Matias Molina, Charlie Dickerson, Kurowsky Pierre (Bryan Vasquez 112′), Daniel Bouman, Maximus Jennings (Samory Powder 61′), Alexei Armas, Conor McGlynn, Dean Guezen (Joshua Drack-Asami 83′), Kyle Evans (Koen Blommestijn 90′), Johnathan Jimenez Vargas (Ermin Mackic 61′), Daniel Burko.
Unused Subs — Andrew Hammersley. Head Coach — George Gjokaj.
Referees: Thomas Snyder (R), Douglas Clayton (AR1), Ariel Raban (AR2), Jace Laquerre (4th)
Weather: Cold, 38°F
Attendance: 2,500 (sold out)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
VGFC: 🟨 Luca Nikolai 74′, 🟨 Nikos Clarke-Tosczak 90′.
WSC: 🟨 Charlie Dickerson 45′, 🟨 Kyle Evans 69′, 🟨 George Gjokaj (head coach) 74′, 🟥 George Gjokaj (head coach) 74′.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
“Penalties can be cruel. Your performance doesn’t necessarily matter in penalties. We were clearly the better team over the 120 minutes. But we’ve got to understand that you’ve got to put those games away. There was only one team really in it. You’ve got a full-time professional team kind of wasting time to get to pens. And that’s a credit to our performance. They’re free to do what they want, but that’s a credit to how well we played, and how we had them under so much pressure.”
“The experience with these guys over the last couple of days and also a couple of weeks ago over the first round has been phenomenal. Their effort, their intensity—most of them their first time playing for Vermont Green—but they treated it like they’ve been here forever. I’m disappointed for them, but also proud at the same time because they gave everything.”
— Head Coach Chris Taylor
NEXT MATCH
The Boys in Green will return to action for the USL2 regular season in May.
Photo Credit: Josh Wallace