TAMPA, Fla. - USL League Two announced Donavan Phillip of Flint City and Gage Lyons of Northern Virginia as the 2025 Golden Boot winners. Both players finished the regular season with 12 goals. 

Each striker was lethal in the final third this season and had multi-goal performances in the final stretch of the campaign to help their teams become division champions. 

Phillip, who plays for North Carolina State University, followed up a strong 2024 where he scored 15 goals between League Two and the NCAA. Phillip found the back of the net for the first time in Flint’s third game of the season and from there was not kept off the scoresheet more than two games in a row for the rest of the campaign. 

Phillip scored two hat tricks in 2025, including a dramatic one in the Bucks’ regular season finale that was capped off by a goal in the 89th minute, tying Phillip for the Golden Boot in the game where Flint clinched the Great Lakes Division title for the third season in a row. 

“Being named a Golden Boot winner is tremendous honor, especially with the high level of talent across the league. This was a major goal of mine coming into the season, and I’m proud to have achieved it,” said Phillip. “I’m also proud of the work I put in throughout the year and truly grateful to my teammates and coaches who supported me along the way and made this possible.” 

Lyons came into the League Two season confident after scoring 14 goals for Army in 2024. Before making the move to UC Irvine this fall, Lyons played in League Two close to home and was an integral part of Northern Virginia’s success this year. After scoring his first of the season in Northern Virginia’s fourth game, Lyons was only kept off the score sheet twice, consistently factoring into a robust offense. 

The highlight of Lyons’ season came in a crucial rivalry game against Lionsbridge FC, where after going down 3-0, he scored four goals starting in the 65th minute to resurrect Northern Virginia’s hopes of winning the Chesapeake Division. 

“Winning the Golden Boot means a lot to me. It’s a reflection of the hard work I’ve put in this season and the support from my teammates who’ve helped create so many of those scoring opportunities,” said Lyons. “I want to thank all of my coaches, teammates, and NoVa FC staff for making this achievement possible.”