Vermont Green FC is adding a women’s team—and they’ve already won their first match.
The newly-formed Vermont Green women’s team beat Canadian team FC Laval on Saturday, 22 June at Virtue Field. The sold out game drew a large crowd of nearly 3,000 enthusiastic attendees, more than any men’s regular season game.
Regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie, and the Burlington, Vermont-based team won the penalty shootout 5-4. Retired USWNT star Samantha Mewis served as coach, leading the players to an ecstatic victory.
Although the team is not permanent and not yet part of a league, the high level of enthusiasm indicates the potential growth of the women’s game in the Green Mountain State.
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Olivia White, the team’s captain, said in an interview: “I am glad that we can show how much potential women’s soccer has and how much growth we have seen from it and [that] women’s soccer is the future.”
There is currently no professional or semi-professional women’s team in Vermont. While Manchester-based club Vermont Fusion previously hosted a Women’s Premier Soccer League team, that team is no longer active.
The Vermont Green FC men’s team play in the USL League Two, and the club is dedicated to a mission of environmental justice, working towards net zero carbon emissions. The team announced their intention to explore adding a permanent women’s side.
Vermont Green FC cofounder Patrick Infurna said: “We want to support the highest-level women’s soccer in Vermont, and this inaugural match is a major step to making that happen.”
The club intends to hold an exhibition match every year until a women’s team is formed.
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