• Courtesy
• Vermont Green FC

It might be the biggest soccer match Vermont has ever seen.

Next Tuesday, March 19, the upstart Vermont Green FC, a Burlington semipro squad formed in 2022, will host a professional team from Kentucky.

The game is part of the first round of the nationwide U.S. Open Cup, the country's longest-running soccer tournament, a knockout-style contest that features 96 amateur and professional clubs, including many from Major League Soccer. Never in the tournament's modern history has a game been played in Vermont, according to U.S. Soccer. Nor can anyone remember a professional soccer club playing a match in the Green Mountains.

"It's a pretty cool debut for the state," Vermont Green FC cofounder Patrick Infurna said, "and we feel proud to kind of carry that on our shoulders."

Vermont Green FC earned an at-large bid in the tournament based on its strong showing last year in USL League Two, a developmental league that features college athletes and others with professional aspirations. It will take on Lexington SC, which plays in USL League One.

The boys in green will be underdogs, no doubt. Their regular season doesn't start until May, and many Vermont Green FC players are still competing in their collegiate programs. The squad, whose roster is still being finalized, will have just three days to train together before the U.S. Open Cup game, Infurna said.

But brisk March weather could prove an advantage for the New England-based crew, as could its devoted fan base, 2,000-plus of whom have been turning out for regular season games.

Plus, Infurna noted, the team is playing with nothing to lose.

"This is just a massive opportunity for just about everyone involved on our end," he said.

The match begins at 7 p.m. on March 19 at University of Vermont's Virtue Field. Tickets are still available at vermontgreenfc.com.