Vermont Green FC has announced its roster for the 2026 U.S. Open Cup and it is filled with familiar faces and new names.
Vermont has four former members of the Green suiting up. Niklas Herceg, Brandon Marshall, Marcell Papp, and Ryan Zellefrow. The Green has signed three players from the University of Vermont’s 2024 NCAA national championship team: David Ismail, Nash Barlow, Philipp Schmidtke and Andrew Millar.
(FWD) Ismail has played 40 games for the Catamounts and scored 13 goals and seven assists. (MF) Barlow just finished his red-shirt sophomore season at the University of Vermont. He played 30 games with a single goal to his name over two seasons. (MF) Millar played 64 games for the Catamounts and scored six goals and six assists. Schmidtke transferred to UVM ahead of the 2026 season.
Full Roster:
1 Niklas Herceg
2 Brandon Marshall
3 Nikos Clarke-Tosczak
4 Egor Akulov
5 Sebastian Pop
6 Riley Moloney
8 Brendan Lambe
12 Tyler Caton
13 David Ismail
16 Nash Barlow
17 Philipp Schmidtke
18 Marcell Papp
19 Shakir Nixon
21 Marco Dos Santos
25 Ryan Carney
26 Andrew Millar
27 Ryan Zellefrow
35 Connor Miller
One of the more intriguing signings has to be the addition of Dos Santos. The forward played for Seacoast United and coined the term "Social Media FC" for the Green. If he plays a role in a first-round cupset, USL League Two might have found its Sol Campbell.
Clarke-Tosczak plays collegiately for the University of Portland. The defender played 19 games for the Pilots and racked up four assists. He played for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy from 2020-23.
Akulov is a redshirt junior who plays for the University of Washington. The defender played 45 games for the Huskies and scored three goals and three assists.
Similar to Dos Santos, Pop and Lambe play collegiately for the University of Virginia. Pop played in the Norwegian first division and is capped on the youth level for Norway's national team. Lambe scored two goals and an assist in 47 games played for the Cavaliers. He has also made 26 total appearances in USL Championship and has experience with Atlanta United and the U.S. Youth National Team.
Moloney plays collegiately for the North Carolina State. The English defender was named to the ACC's All-Freshman Team after scoring two goals and nine assists. Caton also plays for NC State and scored a goal and six assists in 2025.
Nixon is a defender who plays collegiately for the UCLA Bruins. The sophomore scored a goal and eight assists in 37 games played.
