Vlora finishes second in 2025 Premier season

June 28, 2025 | UPSL | Stillwater, MN
Vlora Starting XI: Hector Trigueros, Benjamin Peña, Ignacio González, Ibrahima Ndaw, Oscar Alvarez, Juan Montoya, Luis Mencia, Easton Hoch, Redouane Baarab, Jeronimo Diaz, Jacob Bentz

Vlora’s premier men’s team ended their season last Saturday with a 1-0 loss to St. Croix Legends UPSL in the UPSL Midwest-West Conference championship game, hosted in Stillwater.

Held at 0-0 through the first half, the game was finally broken open in the host’s favor with a set piece goal from Asher Ozuzu, who headed the ball in with 20 minutes to go. Vlora were unable to find the equalizer, making for a more conservative scoreline than the two team’s regular season meeting, which ended 3-2 to St. Croix.

Saturday’s match was not without drama, including a high kick foul that was not called, despite leaving cuts on the face of Hector Trigueros that remained well after the match. The situation reignited a sore spot for Vlora, who had player Benjamin Peña forced to sit out multiple games after suffering a more-serious head injury via a high kick against St. Croix in the regular season.

Vlora would like to thank every player, staff member, fan, and friend that made our premier division season a great one. While we wanted it to last a few more games, we could not be prouder of the run the boys made and the effort everyone has put in to this spring. Thank you.