USL 2 Northeast Division Roundup: Western Mass Pioneers Top of the Table
WMP tops the table, the Green squeak by, and the defending champs suffer season-opening defeat
The USL League Two season is underway and the Northeast division has started off with a bang.
Leading the way are the Western Mass Pioneers with a 9-0 shellacking of Boston City FC. The win has Western Mass top of the table on goal differential and sends a statement that they will be looking to claim the throne of the Northeast division.
Oskar Kaufmann and Isreal Neto led the way with both players scoring braces in the season opening match for the Pioneers. Neto is coming off a fantastic season for the Providence Friars where he played in all 22 games and led the team in goals (six), scoring them all across the team's final eight games.
Vermont Green FC would also secure a win over Boston City, albeit not in as dominating of a fashion. Goals from Tyler Trimnal and Stephane Njike saw the Green secure three points on Sunday evening.
“It was a very professional performance in a difficult environment to open the season,” said Vermont head coach Chris Taylor. “The professionalism and patience from the team was impressive. It took us a while to get the opener today, but the performance was very good. The impact of our substitutes was a highlight today, they came in with an incredible attitude and instantly increased our level. We are very happy to get 3 points and a clean sheet.”
The line change of Arnaud Tattevin, Stephane Njike, Daniel Lang, and David Ajagbe clearly made an impact, with Njike and Ajagbe combining for the second goal of the match.
Then on the other end of the spectrum, Seacoast United looked like it was headed for a 0-0 draw to start the campaign but former Vermont Green man Sam McCann made a near post run during a corner kick and scored the only goal of the match to give AC Connecticut the 1-0 win over the defending USL 2 champions.