Two early goals for Vermont Green FC set the tone, as the Blues could not claw back into the match and fell to the reigning national champions 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Final in Laredo, Texas.
Vermont kicked things off in the 3rd minute when Jeremy Francou tapped home a ball at the far post for a 1-0 lead. Nick McHenry made it 2-0 Green six minutes later when his free kick took a deflection on the way in and found the back of the net.
The Blues started to settle more into the game after the early punch in the mouth from the Green. Tommy Viscuso made a pair of nice stops, and Simon Carlson logged Asheville’s first shot on net in the 10 minutes after as the play started to even out. The Blues started to earn more possession and generate looks, but then Vermont hit them on the counter in the 38th minute when Xavi O’Neal finished off a long diagonal from Ryan Zellefrow to move ahead 3-0–a scoreline that would carry into the break.
The second half started much better for Asheville–Vermont sat back further, but the Blues took advantage of the extra time and space and created some dangerous opportunities. Ashton Bilow nearly found the first for the Blues in the 53rd minute, but he narrowly missed picking out the bottom corner. Mitch Picksley pushed the issue 10 minutes later when he slid a dangerous ball across the box, but a Green defender was first to it to clear it. Picksley sent in another ball in the 68th minute that was deflected towards the frame by Dominik Renz, but it went wide.
Five minutes after that, Renz combined with Bilow, whose low-driven shot from the edge of the box missed the bottom right corner by centimeters. The Blues mustered a couple more chances before going down to 10 men in the 85th minute. Vermont’s penalty that was earned from the foul was aimed bottom right-center, but an absolutely brilliant kick save by Viscuso kept the ball out. However, Andrea Di Blasio finished off a counter two minutes later as Vermont won 4-0.
Thank you, fans, for all of your support throughout the 2026 season! We are so lucky to have the best fans in the world behind us.
