CARY, N.C. – Vermont (15-2-6) has advanced to the National Championship Game for the first time in program history and will face the 13-seed Marshall (15-1-7) Monday night at 8 p.m. from WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The action will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN+ with Dalen Cuff, Devon Keer and Marion Crowder on the call.
 
Tickets for Monday'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 5 p.m. from Lot D.
 
RELATED LINKS
Buy Tickets
CatamounTV Preview: Coach Dow | Bazini | Simeon
Photos: Sunday Practice
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 7 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.
 
HISTORIC THREE-YEAR RUN

• The Catamounts are the first America East Team to ever make a National Title Game in a team sport.
• 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.
• No other team in the NCAA has more three road wins in the NCAA Tournament over the last three years.

SECOND HALF IS CATAMOUNT TIME IN THE NCAAs

• Over the last three seasons in the NCAA Tournament the Catamounts have outscored its opposition 17-6 in the second half.
• This season in their five NCAA games they have outscored teams 8-2 in the second half.
• During the Catamounts three-year run, they are an undefeated 3-0-1 in extra time in the NCAAs.

NEVER TRAILING

• Marshall is the only team in the NCAA Tournament this season who hasn't trailed a single second of game action.
• In the semifinal Vermont trailed for the first time in the tournament after the Pioneers opening goal. In total UVM trailed for 14:09 of game action.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• UVM's NCAA Tournament berth is its 14th in program history.
• The Catamounts are 13-12-3, 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)
• The men's soccer team is the first UVM squad to play for a national title in a team sport.
• The Vermont skiing program has won six National Championships, most recently in 2012 under current Director of Skiing Bill Reichelt.

HERCEG SHINING AS STARTER

• First year goaltender Niklas Herceg has the best save percentage in the NCAA at .855.
• 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 22 saves.
• Heads into College Cup with 11-1-2 record, 0.62 GAA (9 goals allowed) and six shutouts in 14 games started.
• Allowed two goals in UVM debut October 1st in 2-2 tie vs. UMass, but one goal or less in other 14 games.
• He made five saves in the Catamounts semifinal against #3 Denver. He also stopped one penalty kick and forced another wide. 

CATS JUST KEEP ON ROLLING

• Since 2021 the Catamounts are 21-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
• Vermont's current .783 winning percentage is fourth best in the NCAA. Their national title opponent Marshall is second best at .804.
• 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.
• They've also scored 12 goals in the last seven minutes of regulation.
• 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. Marshall is seventh in the country at +27.

BEATING THE BEST

• Vermont is just the third team in the last decade to beat two top-four seeds in one tournament run after taking down No. 2 Pitt and No. 3 Denver.
• 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 2006.

BAZINI ALWAYS COMES THROUGH

• On Friday Bazini was named a Third Team All-American. He is the eighth Catamount in program history to earn that recognition.
• Yaniv Bazini has now scored in five consecutive NCAA tournament games, he has six goals in the tournament.
• 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 10, he is also the program's NCAA Tournament leader in points with 21.
• Bazini has totaled 31 goals and nine assists across three seasons with the Catamounts. His 71 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 23 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 1,225 minutes played in the NCAA Tournament, including 13 games.
• No other player in program history has played over 970 minutes in the NCAAs. 

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE

• The Catamounts lead all teams in this years' NCAA Tournament with 11 goals scored.
• Vermont and Marshall have both conceded just 18 goals this season.

PAIR OF ALL-AMERICANS LEAD THE HERD

• Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos and Taimu Okiyoshi were named All-Americans on Friday. Rodrigues dos Santos was named a First-Team All-American and Okiyoshi was named a Second-Team All-American.
• dos Santos has seven goal contributions during the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Brazilian forward ranks third in the country with 35 points and fourth with 15 goals this season.
• Okiyoshi is the lone player on the squad to start in all 23 matches playing 2,017 minutes and being named an All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team selection. 

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