FINAL SCORE: Vermont 2, #13 Marshall 1
CARY, NC. – 4:53 into the first overtime period, Maximilian Kissel made UVM history, scoring the game-winning goal to propel the Catamounts over #13 Marshall 2-1 in the 2024 NCAA Championship Game, clinching the first-ever national title by an America East team.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score (.pdf)
NCAA Championship Merchandise
Highlights
Postgame: Coach Dow, Barrett and Kissel
Photo Gallery
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts saw the first true scoring opportunity of the match just 3:35 into action on their first corner kick of the match, seeing Sydney Wathuta take the kick, putting the ball perfectly onto the head of Zach Barrett, sending the ball towards the center of the net, but Marshall's goalkeeper, Aleksa Janjic, stood his ground, stopping Barrett's thrilling header opportunity.
• Vermont nearly pounced again in the 23rd minute after an amazing effort from Ryan Zellefrow resulted in Yaniv Bazini and David Ismail breaking free on a two-on-one break. Bazini dished the ball off to Ismail who was all alone on the right side of the field with only the Marshall keeper to beat, but his right foot shot was denied by Janjic, sending the ball out of harm's way, keeping the match scoreless, 0-0.
• Bazini would attempt two more shots against the Herd, seeing one be a header off a UVM corner kick that went slightly wide left, but the Catamounts were unable to find the back of the net as the first 45 minutes of action came to an end. Vermont successfully limited Marshall to zero shots on goal in the first half as both teams entered halftime knotted at 0-0.
• The Herd struck first in the 67th minute of action thanks to Tarik Pannholzer capitalizing off a bad bounce of the ball from Niklas Herceg's hands directly in front of the net, finding the top right corner from point blank range to give Marshall a 1-0 lead.
• An incredible save from Herceg in the 78th minute kept the Catamounts alive, only down by one tally when Herceg held his ground, denying Haruhi Taneda from just about 10 feet out to give Vermont a chance to bounce back on the other end.
• With their backs against the wall, the Catamounts once again struck in clutch time, pouncing back on attack in the 81st minute when a botched play by a Marshall defender attempting to clear the ball resulted in Max Murray finding Marcell Papp just outside the goalie box, who then initiated a give-and-go play with Ismail, feeding Papp on the go from the right side of the box. Papp, all alone one-on-one with the goalie, pinned his shot perfectly to the bottom left corner to score the equalizing goal for Vermont, tying the match at 1-1 with just under 10 minutes of regulation remaining.
• With no goals scored for the remainder of regulation, the match was sent to the first period of golden goal overtime.
• In the 95th minute of action, Kissel scored the biggest goal in Vermont Men's Soccer history, corralling a long cross pass from Barrett with his head, beating out Janjic one-on-one, using his left foot to score the game-winning goal for the Catamounts, putting the dagger in the championship game, earning the Vermont Catamounts its first team sport National Championship in the history of UVM.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Papp scored his fifth goal of the season, his first in the NCAA Tournament, tallying the equalizer goal for Vermont in the 81st minute of action.
• Kissel notched his 11th goal of the season, the biggest goal in Vermont men's soccer history, scoring the game-winning goal in the 95th minute of action to earn the Catamounts their first ever National Championship. Kissel also tied a game-high two shots on goal.
• Ismail registered his first assist of the NCAA Tournament, his 10th point of the season, earning the helper on Vermont's equalizing goal.
• Bazini tallied a game-high four shot attempts to cap off an incredible NCAA Tournament, scoring a goal in five of the Catamounts six NCAA Tournament matches.
• Vermont defeated four different seeded opponents, #7 Hofstra, #2 Pittsburgh, #3 Denver, and #13 Marshall en route the programs first ever National Championship. UVM was also the first ever America East team to make a National Championship game, and the first team in league history ever to win a National Championship.
• The Catamounts bounced back from being down by one goal in each of the two final College Cup matches, finishing the season earning 32 total second half goals.
• UVM finished the season unbeaten when playing at home or on neutral turf, posting a 9-0-5 record when playing from Virtue field or a neutral site. The Catamounts finished the 2024 campaign on a 10-game unbeaten streak.

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