Vermont Green FC will host professional club Westchester SC of USL1 in the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round. The match will be played on Wednesday, April 1 at 7pm on Virtue Field in Burlington, the U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed today.
Ticket lottery information will be announced in the coming days. The match will be streamed live on Paramount+.
It will be the first meeting between the two clubs—Vermont representing the pre-professional summer-only USL League Two (USL2), and Westchester representing the fully professional, year-round USL League One (USL1).
The Green advanced after defeating USL1’s Portland Hearts of Pine 1-0 in a first round cupset at home on Tuesday. David Ismail scored the lone goal on a bitter cold night in Burlington.
Westchester SC of Mount Vernon, NY played their inaugural season in 2025. Their USL1 league campaign didn’t go quite as planned: the team finished last in USL1 and the club parted ways with the entire sporting staff as a result. However, their participation in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup was a bright spot in an otherwise forgettable season: they defeated FC Motown and New York Pancyprian-Freedoms before falling to USL Championship side Detroit City FC in the Third Round.
On Thursday, the New Yorkers kicked off their 2026 Open Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over amateur side NY Renegades. Former Hofstra forward Daniel Burko scored both goals for The Golden Apple and was awarded Man of the Match.
“Our win over Portland was an unforgettable experience for our entire organization: players, staff, and fans,” said Vermont Green Head Coach Chris Taylor. “Cup competitions are special, and we want to keep proving that we’re ready for big occasions. That said, the reality remains the same: we’re facing a much more prepared, much more experienced, professional club. It takes a collective mentality and real grit to get a result in matches like this. Our players are hungry, our fans are behind us, we’ll have three days of training before going into this massive, massive night.”
2026 is the 111th edition of the historic U.S. Open Cup. Beginning in 1913, it is the country’s oldest soccer competition. The tournament is a single elimination contest, and includes clubs from every level of the American soccer pyramid—from Major League Soccer (MLS) all the way down to amateur and semi-professional teams like Vermont Green. 80 clubs will compete in 2026. Nashville SC of MLS won the tournament in 2025.
All professional clubs in the U.S. are awarded automatic entry into the tournament. Amateur clubs must qualify, which Vermont Green did by winning USL2 in August.
The full list of Second Round matchups can be found on the U.S. Soccer website.
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