Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.
Vermont Green FC’s women’s team extended its undefeated inaugural season yet again Saturday with a semifinal win against North Carolina’s Asheville SC. The team will travel to Seattle on July 18 to take on Salmon Bay FC in the national championship game.
“It was just electric,” head coach Abby Carchio said of Saturday’s atmosphere in an interview. “It’s not lost upon me the gravity of what that means for football in Vermont — at least, women’s football.”
Crowds at Saturday’s semifinal overflowed from sold-out stands holding 2,500 at Burlington’s Virtue Field onto the grassy hill next to the pitch. After the final whistle, ecstatic spectators produced flares, flags and a Vermont-themed take on Gala’s 1996 hit-turned-soccer anthem, “Freed from desire.”
The club’s season has been successful across the board: The men’s team is heading into the United Soccer League second tier’s postseason with an undefeated record of its own. The Green will host two men’s playoff games on July 17 and 19 in Burlington, with opposition still uncertain.
Despite this summer being the Women in Green’s first ever season in the USL W, a 96-team nationwide women’s summer league started in 2021, the club has not yet lost a match. The squad has already secured top spot in the league’s Northeast Division, and won the competition’s eastern conference title.
Asheville SC’s women’s team had been on a tear before the club’s journey to Burlington, topping the USL W’s South Central Division and putting together a 10-game winning streak.
“It was the toughest team that we’ve faced,” Carchio said of her squad’s latest opponent.
But after a tight first half, forward Emily Mara broke the deadlock with the game’s only goal, firing the ball into the top right corner past goalkeeper Lilly Heaslet.
“I am so proud of everyone, and we can’t wait to take home the championship for this team and all of Vermont,” Mara said in a club statement after the game.
The win also garnered congratulations from Vermont’s delegation in Washington, D.C.
“Vermont is soccer country!” said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on social media Sunday.
“Vermont is behind you ahead of the national championship,” U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., added in a similar statement.
This Saturday, the team will travel to Seattle for the USL W national championship game against Northwest Division winner and first-time finalist Salmon Bay FC.
Carchio acknowledged that winning the championship in a team’s first season is a difficult feat. But robust support — and her players’ ability to adapt to the moment — has made the team a strong contender all season, she said.
“This game is an opportunity that they deserve, and it’s a reward for their hard work,” Carchio said of the upcoming match. “They want to win everything.”
