FINAL SCORE: Vermont 5, Iona 0
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Seven different Catamounts registered a point en route a 5-0 shutout win, defeating Iona on Thursday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at UVM's Virtue Field. With the win, Vermont advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season, improving to 12-2-5 on the campaign.

RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights
Photo Gallery
Postgame: Coach Dow | Bazini
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the 14th minute of play, a Vermont turnover resulted in Alvaro Maneiro having an opportunity one-on-one with Niklas Herceg. Herceg played aggressive, coming way out of his net, almost outside the entire goalie's box, but his efforts paid off as he was able to deflect the ball away from Maneiro. However, Bautista Rossi was there to make an attempt on net, but a stellar defensive play by Mike Bleeker eliminated Iona's opportunity, clearing the ball out of harm's way.
• Four minutes later, in the 18th minute, the Catamounts pounced first, going up 1-0 when Zach Barrett fed David Ismail just outside the goalie's box, wasting no time firing a rocket with his left foot to the top left corner, scoring his first goal of the 2024 NCAA Tournament to give Vermont the opening lead.
• Ismail nearly struck again for the second time in the 22nd minute, tracing the ball off an awkward bounce in the box, this time with his right foot, one-timing his shot towards the top right corner, but his shot struck the top woodwork, staying out of the net, maintaining the Catamount lead, 1-0. 
• In the 40th minute of action, an Iona corner kick found its way in the back of Vermont's net, but the referee declared the play offsides as the Catamounts entered halftime with the 1-0 advantage. UVM outshot the Gaels 12 to three at that point, pinning three shots on target, limiting Iona to just one shot on net.
• 19 seconds into the second half, an impressive individual solo effort from Yaniv Bazini resulted in Vermont going up 2-0, seeing Bazini dance his way through a couple defenders, electing to shoot with his right foot to the bottom right corner once reaching the top of the goalie's box, earning his first goal of the NCAA Tournament to give Vermont a 2-0 advantage with nearly a whole second half remaining.
• The Catamounts tripled the lead in the 55th minute, seeing a throw in from Barrett find the head of Murray, landing the ball at the feet of Bazini who used the back heel of his right foot to shoot the ball into the bottom right corner, securing his second goal of the match, earning Vermont a three-goal cushion.
• In the 70th minute, UVM continued to pour it on offensively, scoring once again to raise the lead to 4-0 when Sydney Wathuta corralled a cross from Ismail, finding Ryan Zellefrow in the slot who emphatically rifled a shot with his right foot past Iona's goaltender for his first goal of the NCAA Tournament, earning Vermont the four-goal advantage.
• Vermont wasn't done just yet, finding the back of the net for the fifth time when Wathuta and Maximilian Kissel connected, seeing Wathuta send one of his signature crosses into the box, finding Kissel perfectly for a header into the right corner of the net to earn the Catamounts a 5-0 lead. No goals were scored for the remainder of the match as Vermont advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont's five goals are a new program-high in the NCAA Tournament. They are the first America East program in NCAA Tournament history to score five goals in the First Round of the tournament.
• Bazini notched his second brace of the season vs Iona, adding to his team-high 10 goals on the campaign. He has now scored six career NCAA Tournament games.
• Since 2021 the Catamounts are 21-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
• The Catamounts are now 7-1-0 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament including a 4-1-0 mark under Head Coach Rob Dow.
• Over the last three seasons Vermont has outscored its opponents 14-3 at home in NCAA Tournament action over four games.
• Wathuta tallied two assists to go along with five shots, pinning two of those shots on net. Wathuta now has the second most assists across the entire nation, having recorded 14 on the season thus far. It's the third time this season Wathuta has notched a multi-assist match.
• Wathuta's 14 assists are the second-most ever in a single season by an America East student-athlete.
• Barrett earned his first career multi-assist match after registering two assists vs Iona on Thursday night.
• Murray tallied one assist vs Iona. Murray now has notched an assist in three straight games, the longest point streak in his UVM career.
• Kissel earned one goal, scoring in back-to-back games for the second time this season.
• Herceg made three saves for Vermont on the way to a 5-0 shutout victory. It was Herceg's fourth shutout of the season.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Children's Trust Foundation as part of the Cats Wins, Community Wins Initiative.

UP NEXT
The Catamounts will travel to Hempstead, N.Y. to face the 7-seed Hofstra in the Second Round of the 2024 NCAA Soccer Tournament. The second-round match is scheduled for Sunday, November 24 at 5 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Dan Savarino and Will Thompson on the call. Tickets are available now at go.uvm.edu/hofstra.

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