Vermont Green FC Head Coach And Sporting Director Adam Pfeifer 2024 End of Season Interview
The Blazing Musket talked to Pfeifer about The Green's performance in 2024, the U.S. Open Cup, slaying the Phantoms, and much more!
After missing the playoffs in 2023, Vermont Green FC was one of three Northeastern Division clubs to make the USL League Two playoffs. The Blazing Musket sat down with head coach and Sporting Director Adam Pfeifer to discuss the 2024 season, the U.S. Open Cup, and slaying the Phantoms
(Editor’s Note: This interview took place shortly after the end of the 2024 USL League Two Season)
The Blazing Musket (TBM): It's been some time since the season ended. So what are your thoughts about the season? How do you think the season went and what stands out about the team’s performance?
AP: As you get a little bit of distance from it, obviously you gain a different perspective on exactly how everything unfolded. Obviously the way that it started was with the Open Cup, That was really a tremendous thing for the club, winning that first game, being extremely competitive in the second game. Also, potentially opening up some doors to people thinking a little bit differently about the Open Cup and how some of the amateur teams can participate, understanding what the rules actually are and that the college players can play. So I think you'll see a lot more teams participate going forward from those amateur ranks and I think because they'll be using college kids, you'll probably see more upsets in the future just because you have fit guys that are consistently playing, being able to participate. I'm excited to see how that kind of unfolds. Obviously there's a lot up in the air with the Open Cup, so that was obviously a real positive.
As far as the season went, it's easy to kind of look at where we finished in the Northeast, finish third again, like it's a disappointment but then when you unpack everything and you put it more on the national perspective, we lost four games. One was to the Carolina Core, and the other three were to Seacoast who went on to win a national championship, which, obviously, congratulate them for and to be completely honest, I was rooting for them. I felt like they've done a good job and been pretty consistent over the last three years and felt like they deserved something out of it. I think it was also good for the division that we're in, shows, what the competition level is like. Everybody in our division won a playoff game and our loss obviously came to Seacoast and they won the rest of them. I think that the Northeast division, especially the top four teams, is really strong right now and that could get stronger. So you have to put some of the perspective on the season in that context, which is hard to do, especially in the moment but I think when you take a step back and you look at being able to beat Reading, being able to beat Long Island, and having the one loss be to Seacoast in the playoffs, from a national standpoint we're right in the mix and we have to find a way to get beyond Seacoast. We got the better of Western Mass with a draw and then the win on the road. So we're happy with that to a point. We're set up to win this league. We want to win the league. We want to be able to compete at the top of USL 2. I think we are competing at the top of USL 2 now it's a matter of getting past the teams that are in our backyard.
TBM: Talking about Seacoast, what do you think lifted them up to that championship caliber? What do you think Vermont has to do to be able to eclipse them and really compete for that top spot?
AP: I'd say we're competing for it. Last year the two games that we played against them, I thought we were better in both games and we only went one and one. This year, the game at their place was kind of back and forth. I think there were four goals in a seven or eight-minute span. That was kind of a crazy game. Here, I thought we were better. The game in the playoffs, they were much better than us on the day and we just had to tip our cap to them. That was the first game that was really like that. While our record against them is really poor, I do think that you have to kind of look at each individual game. You can't just discount what actually happens in the 90 minutes and just look at the result, but you also have to look at the results of the games. I think we're one in five or one in six against them in the three years and that's obviously not good enough. From that standpoint, they've found a way to consistently get the best of us and even in some games where I felt like we were more influential in many phases of the game, they've always been more ruthless, and they've always found a way to catch us out on the counter attack and score timely goals. They do a lot of the little things better than us right now. But again, I do think it's been competitive. It's not like they've rolled us every time we played them. There's really been one game that was lopsided and that was the one in the playoffs this year. So they've been great. Alex Ryan's done an amazing job with that team. They have a lot of sort of homegrown players, guys that know the club and that fight for the badge. That's not to say that our players don't really fight for our club and for what we're about but it's a little different when, when your Taig Healy and you've been playing for that club your whole life. So he's been a special player in this league for the last three years and he'll probably continue to be for a little while longer. It's hard to look past his influence, his fight, his desire. Those qualities, they really show up. You feel it in the moment but you re-watch the games and see him driving people on and you see him fighting and scratching and doing everything that he can for his team. That sort of homegrown kind of player for them has been special. He's done a fantastic job. I think he's been a real difference maker for them over the three years that we've been in the league.
TBM: I just wanted to talk to you about the women's match that was held. You worked with the coaching staff but what was like to kind of sit back and be able to watch and just overall see the club be able to support the women's game but also Vermont as a whole as well?
AP: That was absolutely a highlight of the season. I think it was a highlight for a lot of our men's players, as well, being able to kind of see it from the other side. There was a lot going on right in the time, from the Open Cup to our season, to the women's game, where we were putting together, basically three different teams, the Open Cup roster, the men's team, and the women's team. There was a lot that went into that, and that went into sort of putting those rosters together, at least from a sporting perspective. There's obviously a lot of other things that go into it from, from the club's perspective, in terms of selling tickets and creating an environment that people were going to be able to come and have a good experience and be able to eat and drink and hang out and enjoy other things around the match itself. We had a month and a half maybe, to put together that roster, and we were kind of putting it together right until the days before the game. So it was a little bit unknown for a little while. We didn't know how it was all going to come together. Fortunately, we were able to have two of our coaches that have been with the club for a little bit that were involved. Then obviously Sam Mewis was unbelievable in her energy and enthusiasm to be involved really solidified everything and put things on a faster track coming together. There were a lot of lot of different things that had to happen for that to work out. The other thing, the easiest part of it, honestly, was getting people the match. We announced the match, tickets started selling, and I want to say it was sold out before we even announced Sam. That may have happened, like a day later, but it was heading in that direction anyway. So it was a special few days in terms of the trainings and then obviously, the match day was incredible. It was a really good game, and it was great to get the result that capped it off really well.
We learned a lot from the game. I think we learned a lot about where the appetite for a women's soccer team here. It was the fastest sellout I think we've ever had. Mayb a playoff game or something may have been faster but that's just because it was only announced a few days before the match was actually being played. So the women's game was incredible and I think the future of women's soccer at some sort of pre-professional or professional level is very much in the cards and I hope that it's our club that spearheads it and is involved in it. I think it will be, we've got some other stuff that we're planning right now and hopefully we'll be able to find a league to have a permanent team right now. There isn't necessarily a league that makes perfect sense for us right now, but that could change over the next couple of months. There's a lot of lot of energy for something like that and it was a special day for the players, the management within the club, the coaching staff, the fans, the women's players. I think their experience was fantastic and we can only thank our community for that. There's good momentum where we'll be a lot more certain of what the result of that work will be in terms of getting players and then getting them to have an excellent experience.
TBM: Yaniv Bazini was a standout. Can you talk about his performance this season, and overall just what he's meant to the club during his time with The Green?
AP: Yaniv has obviously performed at a really high level for us very consistently over the last two years. We obviously wish we had more of him the year before, we only had him for like five matches. This past year, from the Open Cup to leading us in the regular season, and goals, and then obviously that goal he scored in the playoff game against reading here. He's been very consistent. He's, he's, obviously continuing it on with, with UVM. He's dynamic, there's a lot of different things that he can do. His movements pretty good. He can run in behind, he can fall back in the midfield and combine. He can create with his dribbling, he can create with his passing, he can do a lot of different things. His finishing is quite good. So the future is bright for him hopefully he keeps going and scoring goals and creating goals with UVM right but he's had a massive impact on our club.
Bazini would continue to perform well for UVM as he scored 14 goals and lead Vermont to an NCAA championship.
TBM: Could you talk about, the captains, Moussa N’Diaye and Daniel Pacella, their leadership this year and what they've been able to bring both on and off the field?
AP: Danny's been with the club for three years, he's a local guy for us. He’s from Montreal, that's a local guy for us. His family's around the games and I think it does bring on a little bit of a different meaning for him having spent time at UVM as well. He's been fantastic. He got injured a few games into the season, and missed maybe a month, but was just so consistent in his work to get back and wound up playing a big role for us at the end of the season. Moussa has been huge for us. He's going into his junior year now at VCU, and I think he's somebody that could be a guy that’s leaving college early. We'll see how this season goes for him. Leadership qualities are tremendous. Obviously, he is one of the hardest working players that I've ever been around, one of the most disciplined players that I've ever been around. He's just so consistent every day training. He wants to be involved in every aspect of every part of practice. We have to hold him back at times. There have been a handful of games where he maybe played a half an hour because we were trying to rest him and it's almost pointless, because then he goes and does win sprints after the game. Danny's the same way. Those guys are just an amazing example for everybody in the group. We've been really fortunate to have them. We'll see whether we get them for another summer.
TBM: You were able to bring in Reid Fisher this year. He definitely seemed like someone who brought some tenacity to the back line. What was he able to bring to that back line?
AP: Reid’s another one, his professionalism, his work ethic, it's perfect. He's out at practice, he's the first guy out and the last guy to leave. He does everything that he can to take care of his body. He is just all about trying to be the best soccer player that he can be. Those other guys that you named before are very similar like Danny and Moussa. So those are the players that we're attracting here, it's the guys that maybe aren't necessarily looking to go to a big city or go to the beach all summer. It's guys that that really want to train every day. We offer training sessions almost every day, which we try to take one day off a week. Those are the players that we're attracting now, and Reid is definitely one of those guys. If the draft still exists in the next year, I would imagine, he'll be a reasonably high pick at some point. He's got a lot of tools but the number one tool that he has is his mentality and his toughness and his desire to do anything he can do to help his team and anything that he can do to be a better player. He's just so consistent with it. It's truly impressive.
Fisher was drafted 23rd overall by Toronto FC in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft
TBM: Just hitting on the goalkeeper position. Obviously, it was kind of a weird spot. Francesco, obviously got signed by Minnesota United, but then you had Jaheim step in. Talk about Jaheim’s performance, but then also just overall, it seems like the club continues to be able to have guys go on to whether it be MLS, MLS NEXT Pro or USL clubs. What's it mean to see the talent continue to rise and be able to move into the professional ranks after Vermont Green?
AP: That's a broad conversation and it's also part of the conversation about the s philosophy of the club and also, why maybe some of the performances aren't always as consistent as we'd like. We've got guys coming in and out of the team the whole summer. Reid as an example, like he was at Atlanta United when we were playing Seacoast and Western Mass in the middle of the season. Same thing with Gerardo Castillo, he was down there as well. Danny Pacella would have been down there, but he had gotten hurt. When Francesco said that he was signing, we were like, ‘great.’ Obviously he had had an amazing impact on us He was coming back off of a broken finger that he had suffered with us during the Open Cup training session, so he hadn't played. When he really got going, he was pretty impressive. You saw the save he made against Western Mass here at home, probably the only real chance we conceded in that game, and it was just an incredible save and that's what you need from your goalkeeper. He had been fantastic in practice so he had begun to separate himself, which we didn't know going into the season. He was coming from kind of having his confidence hit a little bit from his time in Philadelphia with the Union but when he got back in and started to get confident again, you could see just a completely different player from the Open Cup. I think he'll be a good pro, he's definitely good enough. He had been fantastic for us and while we were disappointed to lose him, we didn't really bat an eye in terms of putting our arms around him, congratulating him.
Jaheim did really well for us. It's a tough position, because for us, our goalkeepers aren't always involved and then all of a sudden you get thrust into to Seacoast and everything's kind of different. So I do think it's a hard job to be a goalkeeper for our team, but at the same point in time, when he was called upon at the at the end of the season, he was huge for us. He did really well, and in the playoffs, he made some really big saves against Reading. He was really good again against against Long Island and then things got away from us against Seacoast but he had a great season for us. He might be a guy I hope will be back with us in the future.
TBM: I don't know if there were any players who stood out to you, or surprised you in terms of their performance this season?
AP: I wouldn't say anybody really surprised us. Gerardo Castillo, I'm consistently kind of surprised that he's not somebody that gets more sort of buzz around him in some of those lists that you see. He's a top player, and he's an attacking left back, and he's so consistent. He creates a lot of real problems for any team to have to deal with that kind of player running up and down the wing. It's not somebody that as a coach you want to have to account for the left back being a real attacking threat. It's the same thing with Bernardo Prego who's at Providence College. I mean, he's the same way. Those two guys, you could make an argument that those are our two guys that maybe are the most prepared right now to be impact professionals. They're both really high level guys. They're both good defenders. They're both incredible attacking players. They're both great in build up play. So, those two guys, I'm always surprised when they're not sort of on all the lists and getting more recognition. One of the biggest players for us over the last three years in terms of dictating our style of play and he's been so consistent for us, he was injured last year a bit, is Rodrigo Vaza. He's just been a fantastic player for us for three years. I can't say enough about his commitment to the club. He was really good for us in the Open Cup. He's one of those guys, he doesn't score goals, he doesn't get assists, but he's just so consistent. He's so disciplined in his role, and he's the one that sets the tempo for everything over the last three years. He was injured last year and Giorgio Provo kind of took on that role but Rodri is another guy I think somebody will be really happy that they took him on because he can do a lot of different things. He's a much better defender than I think he gets credit for. He's good in the air, his decision making, his ability to keep possession, top player in those areas. So he's somebody I don't think gets enough credit and we've loved having him as part of the team.
TBM: Looking at next season and roster building, obviously as the club continues to get older, you have to start to say goodbye to some players who have been there from the start. So how do you go about building this roster, and also just talk about being able to get guys, you know, Reid Fisher, for example, out West, same with a guy like Nate Jones out West. What's it mean that you're able to get these guys from essentially across the world?
AP: Reid was a connection with Adrian Dubois Adrian's at San Diego State now. Reid's not somebody that you watch and he just jumps out at you. Adrian was like, 'I am just telling you this guy is an incredible competitor and he's a hard worker.’ He was like ‘just trust me’ and I was like, ‘all right.’ I trust Adrian. I think Adrian is one of the best coaches I've ever been around and he was dead on. So that's how we'll continue to build the roster, through those kinds of relationships. There will be a lot of guys that come back. Guys like Rodri, Danny, while we always have the door open for them to come back, those guys are probably going to be done with their amateur careers and they need to find professional spaces to play now that they're going to be done with college. Those will be difficult losses, but then you'll have guys like Zach Zengue who have been with the club now for two years, that next year will most likely be his third year. Columbus own his rights, but he's at Georgetown. He'll have another year and why would you not want to get a degree from Georgetown and play there in that program? It's such a good program. It's a good place for him to continue to develop. Then a guy like Reid, even though I think he'll be, like, a high draft pick, I think he's the kind of guy that'll probably stay in college. Some guys leave Rodri and Danny, but those leadership roles will be replaced by guys like Zach Zengue and Reid Fisher and those kinds of players and if those guys have professional options and they choose to take advantage of those, there'll be other guys that step in, that have to fill those roles and we're confident that we can continue to do that. I mean, look, four years ago, the club didn't exist, so we should be okay bringing in new guys.
TBM: Finally, obviously it's still quite early but what are some of the goals or what do you hope to accomplish in this upcoming season?
AP: The number one goal from a sporting standpoint, for me, remains the same. It's to provide the best experience for college players as possible. That's multifaceted. We need to win. That's a lot more fun than the alternative. It's providing the best training environment possible. It's taking care of those guys and sending them back to their colleges fit and sharp and ready for what is a really difficult college season because it's very condensed and the games are really fast paced and can be quite physical. So sending guys back ready and energized to continue to contribute to their colleges that make a really large investment in their future. So that's kind of the number one goal. Then after that, I think for our club, yes, we do want to win this Northeast division. I think it's only a matter of time till that happens, but it is just making the playoffs, getting into that part of the season every year. think we saw this year, if we win that game against Seacoast, which again, they were better than us and they beat us, but if we do get past that game, we could go on to win it. I think that we felt that way last year. I think if we had gotten in the playoffs last year, if the playoff structure had been what it was our first year, this past year, we could have won a national championship. We had that kind of team last year. So I think it's just getting into that phase of the season. We feel like we can do some damage inthat part of the season. There'll be a little bit more of an expansion of some of those goals for us from a sporting standpoint and a lot of that will involve the women's team and continuing to build that and get that team or that program on par with what we have with the men in terms of the training opportunities, the match opportunities. I don't think it's going to be an issue getting the following for the women's team. I think that will happen for sure once we can get it really off the ground.