Making their longest trip of the regular season, Vermont Green FC showed no rust as they defeated Albany Rush on Saturday afternoon

Adam Pfeifer’s starting XI featured some new names as well as some familiar faces. Francesco Montali earned his first USL League 2 start after featuring in a friendly against Juba Star FC.

The back line featured Gerardo Castillo and Bernardo Prego on the wings with Sjur and May’s USL League 2 Player of the Month Moussa Ndiaye. Sam Layton and Rodrigo Vaza served as defensive midfielders in the 4-2-3-1 with Carlos Zambrano playing in the No. 10 role.

Jackson Castro and the recently acquired Yann Toualy served as attacking wingers with Yaniv Bazini starting up top. Zachary Zengue and Reid Fisher made the bench but got a bit of rest after a flurry of starts to open up the 2024 season.

It was a rough start to the match for The Green as they struggled to get anything going on the attack. Albany clogged up the game and Vermont struggled to create any chances.

But in the 24th minute, Yaniv Bazini smashed home a pass from Toualy to add to the striker’s club-leading goal tally. Unfortunately for Toualy, he got injured on the play and had to be replaced by Xavi O’Neil.

The Green would double their lead in the 30th minute as Bazini would double his goal tally on the day. His finishing and poise have been crucial for Vermont this season.

Zengue replaced Zambrano to begin the second half.

Albany came out of the locker room motivated. The Rush found success on the counter and looked more dangerous with the ball. They would be rewarded for their hard work in the 55th minute when they scored off of an indirect free kick.

Bazini almost secured his second straight hat trick in the 58th minute. Albany’s goalkeeper thought that a long ball over the top would calmly fall into his hands but the Vermont striker was able to nudge the ball with his head before it reached the goalkeeper but couldn’t score from the awkward angle.

After the goal, Albany bunkered down even though they still needed to score another to even get a point from the match. The Green controlled possession and kept the ball in the attacking half of the pitch for the majority of the second half.

In the 73rd minute, Nathan Siméon replaced Castro. Then in the 79th minute, Jacob Labovitz looked to energize the Vermont attack when he replaced Bazini.

The Green were able to see out the victory even though they likely would have wanted more from the match. But three points is three points and the win sees Vermont move to the top of the table.

On Tuesday, The Green head to New Hampshire to face Seacoast United, whoever wins will hold the crown as king of the Northeastern for the time being.