Catamounts Face #3 Denver in College Cup Friday Evening

CARY, N.C. – Vermont (15-2-5) has advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history and will face the three-seed Denver (15-3-4) Friday evening at 5 p.m. from WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The action will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN+ with Dalen Cuff, Devon Keer and Marion Crowder on the call.
 
Tickets for Friday’s contest are still available at go.uvm.edu/cc24. The UVM Alumni Association is inviting fans to a pregame tailgate in the parking lot beginning at 3 p.m. from Lot D.
 
The winner of Friday’s contest will advance to the National Championship Game on Monday, December 16 at 8 p.m. it will air live on ESPN2. Top-ranked Ohio State and No. 13 Marshall will face off in Friday’s second semifinal which will begin 30 minutes after the matchup between the Catamounts and Pioneers.
 
RELATED LINKS
Buy Tickets
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Preview: Coach Dow | Bazini | Barrett
CatamounTV: Zach Barrett Mic’D
Photos: Patrick Gym Sendoff | North Carolina Arrival | Wednesday Practice | BTS Media Day
Watch Live – ESPN+
Live Stats
NCAA Tournament Bracket
 
WATCH PARTY AT NECTAR’S
The Vermont Athletic Department will be hosting a Watch Party at Nectar’s Restaurant in downtown Burlington (188 Main St.). Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Free food including quesadillas, fries, gravy fries, flatbreads and chicken tenders will be served. Green and Gold beads, tattoos and stickers will also be available so you can show your Catamount pride Friday evening. There will also be raffle prizes for those in attendance, including a $50 Windjammer Gift Card, a team-signed jersey and two day passes to Smugglers’ Notch Resort.
 
HISTORIC THREE-YEAR RUN

• The Catamounts are making their first-ever appearance in the College Cup this weekend.
• Vermont has won nine NCAA Tournament games over the last three years, the most of any program in the NCAA.
•  Five of those wins have come on the road and four of those have been against seeded teams.

SECOND HALF IS CATAMOUNT TIME IN THE NCAAs

• Over the last three seasons in the NCAA Tournament the Catamounts have outscored its opposition 16-5 in the second half.
• This season in their four NCAA wins they have outscored teams 7-1 in the second half.
• During the Catamounts three-year run, they are an undefeated 3-0-0 in extra time in the NCAAs.

NEVER TRAILING

• Three of the College Cup participants: Vermont, Denver and Marshall have not trailed at any point in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Denver has yet to concede a goal. 

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• UVM’s NCAA Tournament berth is its 14th in program history.
• The Catamounts are 13-12-2, all-time, nine of those wins have come under Head Coach Rob Dow.
• With the Catamounts fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth Head Coach Rob Dow becomes the second coach in program history to lead UVM to the NCAAs four times along with Paul Reinhardt (1975, ’77, ’78, 1981).
• The Catamounts are the first Vermont athletic program to make four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

RARE COMPANY

• Vermont is the third team to reach the Final Four/College Cup in school history.
• The men’s hockey team is the only other program to make Final Four appearances (1996 & 2009)
• Vermont’s first-ever Frozen Four (1996) also saw the Catamounts matchup with the Centennial State, facing Colorado College in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

HERCEG SHINING AS STARTER

• First year goaltender Niklas Herceg has the best save percentage in the NCAA at .857.
• He matched a career-high with seven saves in Vermont’s 1-0 overtime win at San Diego in the NCAA Third Round.
• In the 2024 NCAA Tournament he has kept three clean sheets, while making 17 saves.
• Heads into College Cup with 11-1-2 record, 0.62 GAA (9 goals allowed) and 6 shutouts in 14 games started.
• His 11 wins are tied for 8th-most in a season by a UVM keeper and his 0.62 GAA would be 3rd-best.
• Allowed 2 goals in UVM debut October 1st in 2-2 tie vs. UMass, but 1 goal or less in other 13 games

CATS JUST KEEP ON ROLLING

• Since 2021 the Catamounts are 21-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
• Vermont’s current .795 winning percentage is tied for third best in the NCAA with College Cup semifinalist Marshall.
• The Catamounts offense and depth has come through time and time again this season.
• UVM has scored 19 goals in the 76th minute or later and 15 goals in the 83rd minute or later this year.
• The Catamounts are a +28 in terms of goal differential this season, which is first in America East and tied for fifth best in the NCAA.

BEATING THE BEST

• Vermont seeks to be just the third team in the last decade to beat two top-four seeds in one tournament run after taking down No. 2 Pitt last weekend.
• In 2015, No. 8 Stanford beat No. 1 Wake Forest (2-1) in the quarterfinals, tied No. 4 Akron (0-0) in the semifinals and beat No. 2 Clemson (4-0) in the Championship.
• In 2021, Clemson tied No. 1 Oregon State (1-1) in the Quarterfinals, tied No. 4 Notre Dame (1-1) in the Semifinals and beat No. 2 Washington in the Championship 2-0.

UNSEEDED AND IN THE SEMIS

• Vermont is seeking to be the first unseeded program to reach the championship game with a full tournament field since Akron in 2018.
• Marshall was unseeded when it won the 2020 championship in a 36-team tournament.
• UC Santa Barbara is the last unseeded team to win the national championship in a non-COVID Tournament, claiming the title in 2007.

BAZINI ALWAYS COMES THROUGH

• Yaniv Bazini has now scored in four consecutive NCAA tournament games.
• He is the first player to accomplish that feat since Marcel Zajac of Akron scored in five straight contests in 2019. He finished with six total goals as Akron lost in the Championship.
• Bazini is the program’s all-time leader in NCAA Tournament goals with 9, he is also the program’s NCAA Tournament leader in points with 19.
• Bazini has totaled 30 goals and nine assists across three seasons with the Catamounts. His 69 career points place him fifth in program history.

CATAMOUNTS COMPLETE LEAGUE DOUBLE

• This is the second team (1989) in program history to win a share of the Regular Season title and the Tournament championship.
• UVM clinched a share of the Regular Season title and a crucial bye into the America East Semifinals with a dramatic 88th minute header from Mike Bleeker delivering a 1-1 tie at home against Binghamton. It was the first Regular Season title for Vermont since 2019.
• Vermont also clinched its seventh America East Tournament crown in dramatic fashion on Nov. 17.
• Maximilian Kissel scored in the 86th minute to break a 1-1 tie with Bryant and deliver the title to a raucous sold-out home crowd of 2,400 fans.
• Four Catamounts were named to the All-Championship Team: Herceg, Bazini, Adrian Schulze Solano, and Zach Barrett. The Most Outstanding Player honor was awarded to Zach Barrett.
• Vermont’s Karl Daly was recognized as the winner of America East’s Elite 18 award for having the highest GPA of any player in league’s championship. The junior Business Administration major owns a 3.86 GPA.

CATAMOUNT CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTRY

• Since 2021 all four teams that play at Vermont’s Virtue Field have won an America East Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament: Men’s Soccer (2021, 2024), Women’s Soccer (2021), Men’s Lacrosse (2021, 2022) and Women’s Lacrosse (2022).

KISSEL SUPER SUB

• Maximilian Kissel has played in all 22 games this season, starting four of them (incl. at Pitt in Quarterfinal).
• He is second on the team in scoring with 22 points with 10 goals and 2 assists.
• He is first on the team and fourth in the NCAA with five game-winning goals this season.
• His 10 goals are the second most in America East (Bazini – 13) and 29th in the NCAA. Last year at the University of Bridgeport led NCAA Division II in scoring with 23 goals in 20 games.

BARRETT CATAMOUNTS’ NCAA BACK LINE

• Graduate defender Zach Barrett is the all-time leader in program history with 1,115 minutes played in the NCAA Tournament, including 12 games.
• No other player in program history has played over 860 minutes in the NCAAs.

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE

• The Catamounts lead all teams in this years’ NCAA Tournament with 10 goals scored.
• Denver has yet to concede in this years’ tournament, posting clean sheets against Gardner Webb, #14 Indiana and UMass. Both clubs have only conceded 17 goals this season.

MAJOR AWARDS FOR THE CATAMOUNTS
Sydney Wathuta – AE Midfielder of the Year

• First Catamount in program history to receive this honor
• Leads the league and ranks second nationally with 14 assists.
• Helped the Catamounts rank first in goals per game (1.94) and scoring margin (1.1) in America East play.

Zach Barrett – AE Defender of the Year

• Anchored a Catamount defense which gave up a league-low five goals in America East action.
• Third Catamount to be honored as Defender of the Year and first since Connor Tobin in 2008.
• Scored game-winning goal in 2-0 win over NJIT

AE Coaching Staff of the Year – Rob Dow, Brad Cole, Rory Twomey, Brendan Pulley & Mack Walton

• Led Catamounts to a share of the regular season title for the first time since 2019
• Led America East in goals with 31 and tied for first with +17 differential

For news and updates about the Vermont men’s soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
EastRise Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont Soccer