By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA - The Salmon sisters are seeking one final push in just their second season in club history, as the Coho will host Vermont Green FC at Interbay Stadium on Saturday, July 18th for the USL W League National Final.

Salmon Bay FC and Vermont Green FC will meet in the title match, a year from when Ballard FC battled Vermont Green FC’s men’s side in the USL League Two National Final. That battle in 2025 saw the Ballard boys make the cross-country trip for the Final, but this year has flipped things with Salmon Bay playing host in the biggest match of their young club tenure.

Salmon Bay has gone to extra time and penalty kicks twice so far this postseason, while Vermont has to make the cross-country trip to the Pacific Northwest, so it’ll be interesting to note who’s able to be fresher for this big-time matchup.

Celebration photos after Salmon Bay FC’s penalty shootout victory over the Minnesota Aurora FC, advancing to the USL W League National Final, at Interbay Stadium (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)

How Salmon Bay got here

After a heartbreaking end to their inaugural season, which saw Salmon Bay narrowly miss the postseason, the Coho have responded in a big way this year and are on the precipice of national glory, looking to achieve greatness once more in front of their home fans.

Last season saw the club perform well but fall just short in a tight race for the Northwest Division crown against the West Seattle Rhodies FC. It’s difficult in USL W because each division gets just one playoff spot, so it’s division crown or bust, and any dropped points throughout the year proved pivotal. The Coho were solid defensively but had difficulties on the offensive end, something they’d rectify in a big way early into 2026.

Wins of 4-0 over FC Olympia and 9-1 over Bigfoot FC to begin the year had Salmon Bay flying high, before a 1-2 defeat at West Seattle Rhodies FC brought things back down to Earth. A draw two matches later to Portland Cherry Bombs FC made things tight, as West Seattle and Snohomish United were rolling along, with the Rhodies reaching sixth in the nation in the league power rankings at one point.

Salmon Bay buckled in and rattled off five wins in their final six matches, with the other result being a back-and-forth draw against Snohomish before beating them on the final day of the regular season to seal their first-ever division title.

The playoff path has been one filled with twists, turns, and the lovely heart-stopping nature of penalty kicks. Their opening postseason contest, the second Western Conference Semifinal, went scoreless through 120 minutes before Salmon Bay won 5-4 against the Colorado Storm in the penalty-kick shootout.

Things came easier for the Coho in the Western Conference Final, dispatching a shorthanded Capo FC side by a final score of 3-0. With the momentum of that conference semifinal win less than 48 hours before on their side, Salmon Bay breezed their way to the National Semifinal, hosting a powerhouse in the form of Minnesota Aurora FC.

Celebration photos from Salmon Bay FC’s penalty shootout victory over the Colorado Storm in the Western Conference Semifinal at Interbay Stadium. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)

Much like their match against Colorado Storm the week before, Salmon Bay had control of the contest against the Aurora through 90 minutes and even the two halves of extra time, but couldn’t crack goalkeeper and this year’s Golden Glove winner, Taylor Fox. A rare mistake from Anna Menti, grabbing the ball in the box after she believed it had gone out for a goal kick, gave Minnesota the opener on a penalty. U'i Kaaihue slotted home a penalty after Fox went through a Salmon Bay player, leaping for a ball in the box, to tie things up.

The match came down to another shootout, the second for the club in as many weeks, and Salmon Bay again came out victorious once again. Elena Milam was critical between the sticks, as she has been for the better part of a season and a half for this club, and Menti got a storybook ending to the match by slotting home the winner. Through their perseverance, strong defense, and timely ability to strike, Salmon Bay had taken down a league powerhouse and punched their ticket to the final.

Scenes from spot kicks during Salmon Bay FC’s victory over the Minnesota Aurora FC, advancing to the USL W League National Final, at Interbay Stadium (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)

The Salmon sisters have pushed on despite losing some key names over the last few weeks, with collegiate camps now underway. Star striker and this year’s leading goal scorer Ginny Lackey, who scored the winning goal to seal the division crown victory over Snohomish United, had to leave for James Madison University after that regular season finale.

Veteran defender Keeley Dockter, who previously signed a short-term deal with Seattle Reign FC, signed with Gainbridge Super League side Sporting Jax at the beginning of the month.

Forward Chloe Seelhoff, who’s provided an important attacking presence for the Coho, has rejoined her teammates at the University of Montana to build off some strong campaigns the last few years with the Grizz.

Midfielder Maya Hindson, another second-year Salmon Bay player like Dockter and Seelhoff, has also rejoined her college team, heading back to the University of South Florida.

There was some concern that the University of Washington contingent at Salmon Bay, which includes defenders Anna Menti and Maya Loudd, and forward Samiah Shell, would be gone for this National Final. Husky camp began earlier this week, as the purple and gold look to build off an impressive and emotional season that took them to the Elite Eight. Thankfully, it appears that they’ll be ready to go for this match against Vermont despite not training with the club the last few days and instead being with their Washington teammates.

Having those Huskies available will be key, considering the defensive studs that Menti and Loudd have been for Salmon Bay, while Shell is the club’s all-time leading goal scorer who has performed very well this postseason.

Know the foe

Both clubs in this National Final are early in their USL W League existence, as this is Vermont Green FC’s inaugural season, dueling against a Salmon Bay side in just their second campaign. Vermont has yet to lose a match in 2026, posting a combined regular season-postseason record of 9-0-4 to this point.

It’s impressive to go undefeated in your maiden voyage, but posting four draws on the season meant that the Green failed to earn the Northeast Division title until their regular season finale. Same stakes as Salmon Bay’s final day of the season winner of Snohomish United to win the Northwest Division crown, with three teams in the region including the Coho who all could have made a deep run this season. In another similar situation to Salmon Bay, Vermont needed to be just about perfect to end their season, rattling off three straight wins to close out the regular season.

Vermont beat out the Hudson Valley Crusaders for the division title, who posted a record of 6-2-2, as the club dropped a 2-1 result to Vermont early in the season before splitting the points later on.

The similarities between the two clubs, two of the teams with the best branding in North America, extend to their strong defenses. Vermont conceded just six goals all season, playing over 360 consecutive minutes without giving up a goal to this point. Salmon Bay has yet to concede a goal from open play in these playoffs, as they’ve totaled about 330 minutes without doing so.

Like the Coho last season, a strong defense for the Green hasn’t canceled out an attacking outage at times, resulting in fewer regular-season goals than the Central Conference and Western Conference Champions. Their division was substantially weaker than Salmon Bay’s, as Vermont scored 17 of their 29 regular-season goals against AC Connecticut: a club that had a -50 goal differential and recorded just one point all year.

While scoring hasn’t been Vermont’s strong suit, they have had success on set pieces at times, particularly from Violet Rademacher. The Green’s leading goalscorer, Rademacher has scored five goals this season as a midfielder thanks to her aerial ability on set pieces. Vermont’s Olivia Grenda, the club’s assist leader, will look to connect with Rademacher, so Malia Arrant’s side will surely have an eye on both when those situations arise.

Match information

As has been posted by the club, this National Final at Interbay Stadium is sold out, with 2,000 tickets sold. The tickets for this match sold out in a day, the fastest sellout the club has ever had. It will be the highest-attended match ever at Interbay Stadium, considering the additional seats installed this year and those who will be watching from the parking lot.

As mentioned, the club is closing the parking lot west of the field and will allow fans to watch the match from there if they didn’t secure a ticket. With the parking lot closed for this reason, fans are encouraged to take public transportation, use the Wombi bike parking area, or carpool to the match.

Gates will open at Interbay Stadium at 3:30 PM, 90 minutes before kickoff, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to secure their seats and enjoy the food and beverage options on hand.

The food vendors list includes Big Boys Filipino, Kottu, Urban Native, Mainstay Provisions, and the standard concessions stand, which sells hot dogs, ice cream, non-alcoholic beverages, and more. As is standard during the regular season, fans can purchase Pagliacci Pizza, just across the street from Interbay Stadium, and bring it in. Pagliacci Pizza is the only outside food allowed in. Interbay Stadium is a card-only facility, and only small bags are allowed inside.

For those not able to be in the area, the Stoup Brewing Taproom in Ballard will be hosting a watch party, and you can stream the match by clicking here: salmonbayfc.com/stream.

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Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️

Instagram: @CSS_Futures Twitter: @CSS_Futures Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports

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Instagram: @CSS_Futures Twitter: @CSS_Futures Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports 〰️

Check out our previous CSS Futures articles here.
Check out our previous Salmon Bay FC articles here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Eric Hiller here, and his portfolio here.
Check out previous articles written by Charles Hamaker here.

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