Nacho Lerech Happy To Be Back In Burlington With Vermont Green FC
“That’s the reason why I came back. I love to be back here. I love to be back in the city. It’s like I never left."
You don’t see a lot of players leaving the picturesque views of Italy to play soccer in Vermont but that is a testament to the relationship that Nacho Lerech has with the Green Mountain State
Lerech spent a single season at the University of Vermont but quickly became a fan favorite. He scored six goals and six assists in 18 games played in 2022. Prior to becoming a Catamount, the striker played for the Western Mass Pioneers of USL League Two and had a stellar season racking up 11 goals and three assists in 2021.
In the 2021-22 season, Lerech made eight appearances for Ciudad de Lucena in the Spanish Fifth Tier. In Italy, the striker played for CS Vultur Rionero in the Italian Fifth Division.
So what convinced Lerech to come back to Vermont to play for The Green?
“Amazing,” Lerech said of coming back to the Green Mountain State. “That’s the reason why I came back. I love to be back here. I love to be back in the city. It’s like I never left. I enjoyed it. I enjoy to be a part of this team. It looks like UVM again. Burlington is a great city.”
On top of being able to return to Vermont, Lerech is excited to be able to work with head coach Adam Pfeifer.
“Firstly, coach Adam’s a great guy I wanted to be coached by him. I was never coached by him and I wanted to be coached by him,” Lerech said. “This team is great. They do a great job, Sam (Glickman), Patrick (Infurna), and Matt (Wolff). They do a great job providing us the best and I’m just happy to be back.”
Lerech will be even happier headed into Vermont Green FC’s home opener as Lerech scored a goal in his debut for The Green. Sinking a penalty to give The Green a 2-0 lead, the striker was bursting with excitement and celebrated by kissing the badge of his new club.
While scoring is great — especially as a striker — Lerech was more focused on celebrating the three points.
“The most important thing is always to win,” Lerech said after the 3-0 win over the Boston Bolts. “We won, we take the win from here and then the goal of course but the most important thing is that we won.”
While Lerech just recently arrived in Vermont, he is already building chemistry with his teammates on and off the field. With the USL League Two season being so short, the striker knows that time is of the essence when it comes to learning how his teammates play and helping the 2023 squad truly become a team.
“Everyone has to start knowing each other, we don’t have a lot of time because this competition is very, very short,” he said. “The coaching staff has been great. We’ve done a lot of fun activities so we know each other. The good thing is that we also live close in the same facility so that sort of helps a lot like team bonding and keep building relationships.”
Lerech is definitely a player that fans of The Green should keep an eye on. It seems safe to say that his debut goal will be far from the only time he finds the back of the net this season.