FINAL SCORE: Vermont 1, UNH 1
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont (4-1-3, 0-0-1 AE) extended its unbeaten streak to seven games on Saturday afternoon from Virtue Field, opening America East conference play with a 1-1 draw to UNH (2-2-3, 0-0-1 AE) during the Catamounts annual Youth Day presented by Healthy Living.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Everything was in place for a big conference tilt: the fans, alum and two very good teams," said Head Coach Rob Dow. "We started each half very well but needed to finish stronger. I'm sure we'll see UNH again later in the season."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the fifth minute, Vermont seemed to get an early jump on the match after penetrating the Wildcat defense, creating a loose ball directly in front of the UNH net where Max Murray was there to bury his shot, but Murray was ruled offsides, keeping the match scoreless with plenty of action remaining.
• The Catamounts almost struck again in the 19th minute when a UVM corner kick set up David Ismail for a remarkable header inside the box, but his shot rang off the crossbar as both teams remained scoreless. No goals were tallied throughout the rest of the first half as the score read 0-0 heading into halftime.
• Vermont's efforts finally paid off in the 53rd minute when Connor Thompson dialed up a prime scoring chance, pushing the ball through the slot to Marcell Papp, who found a streaking Andrew Millar, rifling his second goal of the season to the bottom right corner, earning the Catamounts their first lead of the game, 1-0.
• The Wildcats saw their best chance of the match in the 60th minute when Arian Recinos had a wide-open lane to unleash a shot high center on Lou Liedtka from just outside the box, but Liedtka was there to punch the ball over the net, out of bounds, keeping UNH off the scoreboard and maintaining the Vermont one goal advantage.
• Three minutes later, Matthew Goncalves ripped a shot with his left foot from a couple feet outside the box, ringing the ball off the crossbar as the rebound was sent out of bounds, giving Vermont the late match break and keeping UNH scoreless.
• A Vermont foul awarded UNH a free kick in the 84th minute of play, taken by Michael Tsicoulias. His initial shot was blocked but was able to squeak through the five-man wall where Goncalves was there to bury the loose ball, knotting the score at 1-1 with just under seven minutes remaining of action.
• No goals were scored for the rest of the match as the twin state rivalry ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon from Virtue Field.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Liedtka recorded a season high eight saves against the Wildcats.
• Millar notched his second goal of the season to go along with a team-high two shots.
• Papp tallied his first assist of the season and registered his third straight game with a point or more.
• Thompson recorded one assist against UNH, his second game in a row notching an assist.
• UVM earned six corner kicks to the Wildcat's three.

UP NEXT
Following the draw with UNH, the Catamounts get three days to prepare for Atlantic 10 foe, UMass, capping off a four game homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 1 from Virtue Field. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and will be Vermont's annual Rally Against Cancer game presented by Mascoma Bank.

For news and updates about the Vermont men's soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.

New England Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer