The Vermont Green FC women took center stage at Virtue Field on Saturday night and Sam Mewis — World Cup champion, U.S. Olympian and former professional women’s soccer player — was as nervous as she had ever been watching a match.
The Vermont Green FC, with Mewis as a coach, were facing off against FC Laval in their inaugural women’s friendly and the two teams were headed to penalty kicks.
“(It was) akin to watching the national team take penalty kicks at the Olympics, that’s how I felt on the sideline, this intense stress,” Mewis said. “I think it is something I have been missing in my life, really caring about this moment and how it would affect the team.”
The Green delivered and erased their coach's nerves with a win, outscoring Laval 5-4 in six rounds of the shootout after the two teams ended regulation tied 1-1.
“I cared about that game literally more than I have cared about anything in so long,” said Mewis, who was making her coaching debut. “That was so awesome. I am so proud of the team.”
Vermont keeper Olivia Dubin made a save in the final round of penalty kicks and Roshann Purcell fired it in to lift the home team to the victory.
“I just wanted to honor my teammates hard work so badly, they had put in everything for the last 90 minutes, put in everything for the last three days and I just wanted to come up big for them,” Dubin said of her big stop. “I was in disbelief, the crowd was unbelievable.”
For the sold-out crowd at Virtue, the score may have been the least important part of the night. From the start, with escorts out for the lineups from young female soccer players, to an all-female reffing crew to handmade signs around the stands celebrating women’s sports, the night was a celebration of women’s soccer.
“It was surreal, I have never played in front a crowd that size and with that much electricity,” said Olivia White, a Pittsford, Vermont native who captained the inaugural team. “It was very exciting, all of the girls were really excited and it’s a feeling that I will never forget.
“This is women’s soccer, and I am glad that we can show how much potential women’s soccer has and how much growth we have seen from it and women’s soccer is the future.”
And the Green and Laval delivered a competitive match on the field. Despite just three days to train together, the Vermont players had the game’s early chances, with Neve Renwick finding room behind the defense for a few chances on goal.
“It was hard at first but as the days went on we became more connected with each other, we became a team who definitely put a show on here tonight,” Renwick said of the team’s quick timeline. “I am so glad we won.”
It was Renwick who broke through for the first-ever goal for the Vermont women, breaking a scoreless tie in the second half. Milton’s Emma Wennar a threaded a near-perfect pass through a defender to Renwick, who dashed in alone on the Laval keeper and fired a shot into the back of the net.
“This is insane, the atmosphere, the people, scoring in front of the fans, there couldn’t be a better feeling,” Renwick, who hails from England and was in Vermont for the first time, said. “Genuinely, I am in awe.”
The score set off a celebration at Virtue Field, with the Vermont Green players marveling at the excitement for the team’s first ever goal.
“I got goosebumps,” Wennar said of the moment. “It was pretty incredible.”
It looked like the goal would be enough to carry the Green to a win but FC Laval struck in the final minute of regulation. Laurie-ann Moise made an excellent move at the top of the box to shake her defender and then fired it past Dubin for a 1-1 score.
The two teams went to penalty kicks, where the squads traded goals until Dubin stepped up with a big save in the sixth round and Purcell followed it with a decisive score to clinch the triumph and set off another Virtue celebration — this time with the overflow crowd lining the fence behind the goal.
“It was incredible, I have never even seen a crowd like this for my college games,” Dubin said. “It was just so cool to see so many people of all ages, of all demographics, to come and show the love for us.”
The night ended with fans of all ages rushing on to the field to meet their new women’s sports heros, lining up for autographs and selfies with the players and Mewis, an outpouring of excitement that seemed to overwhelm all of them.
“This is the most autographs I have signed in my whole entire career, and I love it,” Renwick said. “Ranging from 70 year olds to two year olds, it’s crazy … Vermont is becoming more established in women’s sports, and this is the place to be.”
And for the players and coaches, they hope this only the beginning for the Vermont Green women’s team and are excited about what the future holds.
“There is so much enthusiasm around women’s sports right now, especially around women’s soccer,” Mewis said. “It seems like women’s soccer is in this time of explosive growth and to be able to bring a game like this, with players like this to Vermont — Vermont Green is already a well-established club and to see how much they value the women’s game as well and their goals for the future of it is really inspiring so honestly i am just really humbled and proud to be a part of it.”
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