After finishing the regular season with a near-perfect 13-0-1 record, reigning USL League Two Champions Vermont Green began its quest to retain their title on Friday when the club hosted Ironbound SC at UVM’s Virtue Field in the USL League 2 Playoffs.

Head Coach Chris Taylor made four changes from the lineup that concluded the regular season with a 4-2 road win over Western Mass Pioneers. Seth Wilson got the start in goal behind the backline of Nikos Clarke-Tosczak, Nicholas McHenry, Brandon Marshall, and Trym Linberg. Connor Miller and Efe Aror sat deeper in the midfield behind the trio of Xavi O'Neil, Ryan Zellefrow, and Diego Rosas. Jeremy Francou served as the lone attacker up top.

Jeremy Francou’s scorching-hot streak of play ignited once again in the sixth minute. It all began when the Green worked the ball to Rosas on the right wing after winning the ball back in the middle third. Rosas curled the ball perfectly to Francou, who leapt into the air and headed the ball past the keeper to give Vermont Green an early 1-0 lead

Xavi O’Neil nearly doubled the lead in the ninth minute when a long ball forward was mishandled by the Ironbound defense, which led to O’Neil pouncing on the loose ball. O’Neil attempted to slot it to the bottom-right corner, but the keeper was alert as he dove onto the ball to put an end to Vermont’s chance.

A quick build-up following a throw-in paid dividends for the Green in the 22nd minute as a series of passes up the right flank led to Trym Linberg tapping the ball into a pocket of space in the box. Connor Miller darted past an Ironbound defender and got onto the ball before catching the keeper off guard and slotting it home to make it 2-0 Vermont.

Miller’s furious drive up the center of the field paid further dividends in the 31st minute as it led to him shredding through the Ironbound defense and slotting a ball to Diego Rosas on the right flank. After a few touches goalward, Rojas drilled it through the keeper’s five-hole to give Vermont the 3-0 lead.

Ironbound’s first chance of the game came in the 35th minute when Siamo Agostinho got on the end of a lobbed ball into the box and attempted to head it home, but Seth Wilson was alert as he dove and grasped the ball. Wilson came up big again in first-half stoppage time when he lept into the air to catch a close-range header from Mateusz Marciniak to keep Ironbound off the board.

Trym Linberg received the game’s first booking in the 53rd minute following his challenge on Francisco Degiorgi that left Linberg worst for wear and led to his night ending, as he was replaced by Aleksei Carnier in the 54th minute.

Ironbound’s Hugo Tavares entered the book with a yellow card in the 55th minute after clipping Ryan Zellefrow from behind.

Francou missed out on a golden opportunity to push Vermont’s lead to four in the 61st minute. It all began with Xavi O’Neil driving up the left flank and cutting inward before attempting to find the upper half of the net. Devin Armstrong got his hands to the ball, but deflected it back into play as Francou ran onto the loose ball and looked to drill it into the empty net, but mishit it as it sailed over the goal.

A pair of changes came in the 63rd minute as Joseph Picotto and David Ajagbe replaced Ryan Zellefrow and Diego Rosas.

A dominant effort in front of the Vermont faithful saw four different goalscorers lead the Green to a 4-0 shutout victory.

Friday’s victory sees Vermont Green punch its ticket to the Round of 16 on Sunday when they return to Virtue Field to host the Ocean City Nor’easters.