Westchester SC (USL League One) @ The Stadium at Memorial Field (Mt. Vernon, NY)
Suburban Soccer
3/8/2026
26 IN 26 STOP 6
*This trip occurred on March 7, 2026.
Westchester SC were founded in 2024 and played their first season in USL League One (the third tier of soccer in the United States) last year along with four other expansion teams. While two of the five new teams made the league's eight team playoffs, the other three didn’t - but Westchester ended up having the most "expansion club struggle" experience of the five. The team finished at the bottom of the 14 team league (though they had the league’s top goalscorer), and according to a graphic I saw during a broadcast, they dropped the most points from winning positions in league history (i.e. drew/lost games they held a lead in). That is all I really have to say about the team's history - though you should have expected that given that the team was only established two years ago.
The Stadium at Memorial Field in Mount Vernon, NY was opened in 1931, but fell into disrepair over time until being extensively renovated in 2022. It’s a multipurpose stadium - Mount Vernon High School hosts football games here, and there's a running track around the field, but somewhat oddly, the only other sport I'm aware of that was played here is rugby - a short-lived Major League Rugby team played here for a bit, and there's currently a women's rugby team (as well as one other team in another sport which I am thinking about seeing - though they haven't played their first game here yet). Unlike many high school stadiums which have at least two stands, there's only one main stand here, and as you may have guessed, it’s on one of the "long" sides of the track and field. The seats here are all benches with the exception of the middle section (which is chair back seats with armrests), and they're priced based on how close they are to the center line - with the least expensive tickets being fifteen bucks (in the "far corners" of the stand).
Unfortunately, there was a MASSIVE issue with planning a visit: Mount Vernon is just north of the Bronx, and has a bit of a reputation for not being the nicest place in the world. Combine this with the George Washington Bridge's massive toll rate, the notorious congestion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, and all of the team's home games being 7 PM starts, and a visit wasn't exactly something I thought would be super feasible. However...I still felt like I wanted to do this. As it turned out, however, I felt that the area around the stadium wasn't TOO bad - the presence of big box retailers with (free) parking garages right across from the stadium's gates does help (as does quick and easy access to the Hutchinson River Parkway, which is the highway that leads out from the stadium to 95).
My original plan was actually to come here next week (for reasons that will become clearer soon), but due to schedule conflicts, this trip got moved UP to today - the team's 2026 home opener! Expectations around the team are...mixed at best (especially given their AWFUL track record of losing leads), and when the team coming in to face them is the defending regular season AND overall champions in One Knoxville SC, it's hard to expect a result.
Alas, the game went more or less as expected - Knoxville won, but mainly on the strength of a first half stoppage time goal (as Westchester got a goal with the final kick of the game to make it 3-2). Personally, I blame myself for this loss - I wore my Vermont Green hat for this game, and one of Knoxville's players was a former Vermont Green player who was making his professional debut - and scored the team's first two goals. There was some atmosphere from supporters, but it did seem kinda weak compared to the higher levels of soccer I've seen in this country (and also the aforementioned Green).
MERCH
One of the big reasons I wanted to come here: Hummel.
Hummel is the company that makes the team's jerseys (along with a TON of other USL teams), but their sizing is kinda weird: unlike other brands like Nike or Adidas, they use different "sizing standards" between Europe and the US - with the European sizes being smaller. To illustrate what I mean by this, I ordered a jersey from a French esports organization back in 2023 that was made by Hummel: it was listed on their website as a "2XL", but when I got it, the neck had a "size information area" (i.e. neck tag) like this:
Since I have no way of knowing whether or not the team will use the EU or US sizing when ordering online (without contacting them directly), I figured that the best thing to do would be to "go direct to the source" and get a jersey at the game itself. However, the shirt I got was VERY different from what I expected, as this is what the "tag" looks like:
One VERY weird thing about the team's jerseys: the shirt is fully sublimated including the team's badge, but there seems to be a version where the team's badge is a glued on patch. However, this version of the jersey happens to have the sublimated logo underneath the glued-on one - I'm not honestly sure how I feel about this...
In terms of other items, several fans had hats that looked interesting, but the only hats that were on sale were beanies (something I'm not that into). Also, it was surprisingly cold at the match, but given that scarves are a fairly ubiquitous part of soccer culture, the scarf I was already planning on getting ended up being much more useful than just as a "soccer fashion statement".
Finally, I should also mention that the team has partnered with a local store who also sell their merch. I thought about going there before the game (for this as well as other reasons), but their hours didn't really "fit" with my schedule (they close at 5, gate time for the game is probably 6, and I'd rather not be hanging around a place like Mount Vernon based on its reputation - even if the stadium area seemed okay...).
P.S.: New York City FC had their home opener today as well (a wild 5-0 win over fellow 2015 expansion side Orlando City SC involving a goalkeeper getting a red card). I did think about going to it, but ultimately decided not to - though I do intend to see them later this year.