Vermont Green looked to secure its second consecutive title on Saturday when Chris Taylor and the club traveled to Atwood Stadium in Flint, Michigan, to face the Flint City Bucks in the 2026 USL League Two Championship Final. The Green were successful in their title defense with a 2-1 win.
Saturday’s contest came after Taylor led the Green to an undefeated record of 13-0-1 in the regular season, followed by three consecutive 4-0 thrashings over Ironbound SC, Ocean City Nor’Easters, and Ashville City SC. Vermont clinched its berth to Saturday’s final following a 7-1 thrashing over the Laredo Heat.
Taylor made two changes from the lineup that secured victory over Laredo last Sunday. 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.
In typical cup final fashion, the first 45 was a real feeling-out process as neither side found the advantage.
Xavi O’Neil looked to get Vermont on the board in the 50th minute when he got on the end of an errant cross and proceeded to flash the footwork before rocketing a shot that forced MLS veteran Steve Clark to make the save to keep the game scoreless.
Halftime substitute Samson Kpardeh became the first Green player to enter the book in the 52nd minute after his overhead kick attempt missed the ball and struck Ellis Jones. Kpardeh looked to find the game’s first goal in the 57th minute when he got under a cleared corner kick and flashed the footwork before lasering a shot goalward that ricochetted off a Flint City defender and away from danger.
Clark came up big for Flint in the 59th minute when he leapt into the air to catch Vermont’s corner kick before it could fall to the head of Marshall.
Despite numerous phenomenal chances from the Green, Flint City helped the road side open the scoring in the 63rd minute. It all began with Diego Rosas curling a cross forward from the right flank that found nobody. Flint City’s Ellis Jones stuck out a foot in an attempt to clear it away from danger, but redirected it into the back of the net to give Vermont the 1-0 lead.
After putting his team down moments earlier, Jones came up big in the 64th minute when he leapt into the air and headed the ball to an open Matthew Paiva, who easily slotted the ball home to level the match at one apiece.
Another substitute came in the 74th minute as David Ajabe replaced Jeremy Francou. Momentum swung Vermont's way in the same minute when Steve Clark was caught off his line and was forced to pull back an advancing Green forward, which led to the referee awarding Vermont the penalty kick and brandishing Clark a yellow card.
Zellefrow stepped to the spot with the chance to regain the lead for the Green, and did so with a shot to the lower-left corner that evaded the reach of Clark and rolled in to give the Green a 2-1 lead!
Two more changes came in the 84th minute when Andrea Di Blasio and Andrew Millar replaced Diego Rosas and Ryan Zellefrow. But despite some late attempts, Vermont Green FC stood tall as they saw out a 2-1 victory on the road to secure the club’s second consecutive USL League Two title.
