The defending USL League Two national champions, Vermont Green, made its return to Virtue Field on a frigid Tuesday night, opening Round 1 of the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. They went head-to-head with USL League One opponent, Portland Hearts of Pine, in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 2,500 fans. David Ismail delivered the game-winning strike in the 40th minute of action in his Vermont Green debut, propelling the Green onwards to the Second Round, defeating the Hearts of Pine 1-0.
“Really, really happy,” said head coach Chris Taylor when asked about his emotions after the match. “Most of the credit has to go to the players because when you only have one day, you got to rely on so much talent on the pitch and intelligence, and they brought every single ounce of concentration with them. We said to them when we finally got them together, we’re going to need all the knowledge that you have to help accentuate our knowledge and those players bought into the plan, and the crowd just cheering them on, and on, and on, just really proud to be honest.”
After nearly a full half of Vermont consistently controlling pace and not conceding a single shot on goal, the Green broke through in the 40th minute of action when Marco Dos Santos led a three-on-two offensive rush with Ryan Zellefrow and Ismail by his side.
Santos elected to take the initial shot on net, getting denied by Portland’s Hunter Morse, but Zellefrow was there to quickly use his right foot to redirect the rebound towards the center of the box, finding a wide open Ismail, wasting no time using his right foot to score his first career goal with the Vermont Green, earning the crucial 1-0 lead before halftime.
The Hearts of Pine elevated the offensive pressure with just about 10 minutes of play remaining in the second half, getting their first shot on goal at Niklas Herceg, but Herceg stood tall, cleanly making his one and only save of the match.
With less than three minutes to play, Portland was awarded a corner kick, their first of the match, trying to find the equalizer to force extra time. The sold-out crowd at Virtue Field who were braving the cold, windy conditions continued to cheer loud, encouraging the Green players to keep battling.
Vermont successfully denied Portland any opportunity to set up a play, clearing the ball numerous times in an attempt to run the clock out.
The final whistle blew not long after the Hearts of Pine corner kick opportunity, seeing the Vermont Green walk away with the 1-0 victory from Virtue Field during round one of the US Open Cup.
“This community never disappoints,” said head coach Chris Taylor. “We couldn’t have done all the stuff at the end in the last 10-15 minutes without that energy from the crowd and we told the players in the locker room and in training, every time you need a little bit of energy, look at that crowd and they’ll give it to you, and they did. They always show up for us, they never disappoint, and it’s great to see them in March.”