Men's Soccer

#AEMSOC Week 8: Catamounts Take Over First

BOSTON – Vermont scored two second-half goals on Sunday afternoon to win and take over first place in the #AEMSOC standings. Only four points separate the first-place Catamounts and eighth place in the standings with four weeks remaining in the regular season.
 
Vermont broke a 0-0 draw with NJIT in the 76th minute and added a second goal to improve to 2-0-1 in the league and in first place by one point. Elsewhere, Bryant took over second place in the #AEMSOC standings with a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell. The Bulldogs overcame a 1-0 deficit with two goals in a three-minute span, the final goal occurring in the 80th minute.

Need to Know:
  • Binghamton earned its first conference win of the year with a 2-1 victory against New Hampshire on the road, thanks to a goal in the 68th minute. It is the first Bearcat victory in Durham since 2015.
  • UAlbany built a 3-0 lead in the opening half against UMBC and held off the Retrievers for a 3-2 victory on Saturday night.
  • Vermont opened the week with an impressive against Previously unbeaten UConn. The Catamounts two wins last week propelled them to an RPI of 30, the best mark in the league.
  • The Wildcats host Yale on Tuesday, while Bryant travels to UConn for a tough Big East matchup.
  • On Saturday, Bryant travels to Vermont with first place in the league on the line. Binghamton looks to win its second straight when the Bearcats host UMass Lowell.
  • NJIT and UAlbany battle in the first game of the day while New Hampshire hosts UMBC looking to snap a two-game winless streak.
 
2024 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners – Oct. 14  
Offensive Player of the Week
Ander Castillo, UAlbany – Sr., Forward, Bilbao, Spain
  • Registered one goal and one assist in a 3-2 road win against UMBC.
  • Scored UAlbany’s first goal and assisted on the eventual game-winner.
  • This is Castillo’s first career #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Zach Barrett, Vermont – Sr., Defender, Phoenixville, Pa.
  • Anchored a UVM defense which earned a pair of shutouts, while scoring once.
  • Helped take down previously unbeaten UConn, allowing just three shots on goal.
  • Shut out NJIT and scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 victory.
  • This is Barrett’s first #AEMSOC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season.
 
Rookie of the Week
Niklas Herceg, Vermont – Fr., Goalkeeper, Alsdorf, Germany
  • Earned a pair of shutouts in net, stopping four shots against UConn and NJIT.
  • Made three saves in a shutout of UConn, their first loss of the season.
  • Stopped one shot in a 2-0 shutout of NJIT.
  • This is Herceg’s first #AEMSOC Rookie of the Week honor.
 
Links  
2024 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 26 – Co-Offensive Player of the Week: Sergio Martinez Cubel, NJIT; Co-Offensive Player of the Week: Joseph Picotto, UMBC; Defensive Player of the Week: JR Gawel, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Matteo Costa, UMass Lowell
Sept. 3 - Offensive Player of the Week: Ibrahim Conde, New Hampshire; Defensive Player of the Week: Lou Liedtka, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Andrew Araya, NJIT
Sept. 9 – Offensive Player of the Week: Matthew Goncalves, New Hampshire; Defensive Player of the Week: Devin Armstrong, NJIT; Rookie of the Week: Andrew Araya, NJIT
Sept. 16 – Offensive Player of the Week: Maximilian Kissel, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Erik Lauta, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Samori Matteo, UMBC
Sept. 23 - Offensive Player of the Week: Marcell Papp, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Lou Liedtka, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Ryan Gillon, Binghamton
Sept. 30 - Offensive Player of the Week: Cristian Guirado, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: JR Gawel, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Matteo Costa, UMass Lowell
Oct. 7 - Offensive Player of the Week: Maximilian Kissel, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: JR Gawel, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Eric Sadlocha, NJIT
Oct. 14 - Offensive Player of the Week: Ander Castillo, UAlbany; Defensive Player of the Week: Zach Barrett, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont
 
The America East is one of the best men’s soccer conferences in the country. In 2023 the league finished sixth in RPI among all conferences and three teams were selected to the NCAA Tournament. Overall The conference has received multiple bids to the NCAA tournament in four of the past eight seasons, with Vermont and New Hampshire reaching each of the past three years. Four different teams have reached the third round of the NCAA tournament since 2014, highlighted by UMBC getting all the way to the College Cup in 2014.

Fans will once again be able to watch nearly every #AEMSOC contest this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
 
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference its social media channels, @AmericaEast. 
 
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -