BOSTON – The Vermont Catamounts look to secure the first national championship in any America East sport as they square off against No. 13 Marshall on Monday at 8 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
UVM (15-2-6) is making its first national championship appearance after taking down No. 3 Denver in penalty kicks on Friday in the semifinals. The Pioneers went up 1-0 in the 69th minute, but Vermont evened the score in the 84th minute on a goal by Yaniv Bazini. The game remained 1-1 through two overtimes.
In penalty kicks, each team connected on their first two attempts, but Niklas Herceg came up with a diving leg save on Denver’s third attempt. Max Murray followed with a goal and each team made their fourth attempts. The Pioneer’s fifth shot went high, and the Catamounts stormed the field in celebration.
Marshall is looking for its second national championship in the past five seasons. The Thundering Herd won it all in the spring of 2021, taking down Indiana 1-0 in OT in a reduced field of 36 teams. They finished the year 13-2-3.
This season Marshall advanced to the national title game with a 1-0 victory over top seed Ohio State. The Herd were the No. 13 team in the tournament, but were ranked No. 8 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll and hold a 15-1-7 record this season.
The team is unbeaten in its last 21 matches and has been shut out three times during that span, earning 0-0 draws in each contest. Marshall is 3-0-2 against teams currently ranked in the top-25 with a goal differential of 6-3 in those five games. They played to a pair of 0-0 draws with rival West Virginia earlier in the season.
Vermont has been dominant in the tournament, taking down Iona, No. 7 Hofstra, San Diego and No. 2 Pitt en route to Cary. The Catamounts have outscored their opponents 11-2 to reach the championship. UVM is 3-1-1 against teams currently ranked in the top-25, with the lone loss coming in their season-opener to Western Michigan.
Uncharted Territory
Vermont secured its first trip to the National Championship, advancing 4-3 in penalty kicks against No. 3 Denver after playing to a 1-1 draw through two overtimes. Yaniv Bazini scored the equalizer in the final eight minutes. This marks the University of Vermont’s and the America East’s first-ever appearance in a National Championship game.
America East in the College Cup
Vermont is the second America East program to reach the College Cup in the last 10 years. In 2014, UMBC became the first conference program to reach the Cup. The America East is just one of five conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12) to have two different schools that are full-time conference member schools reach the College Cup since 2014.
UMBC Makes College Cup Run in 2014
The Retrievers advanced on PKs against Wake Forest in the opening round before taking down No. 4 Maryland in the second round. UMBC then knocked off No. 13 Louisville 1-0 and advanced past No. 12 Creighton in penalty kicks (4-3) after playing to a 0-0 draw. The Retrievers gave up their only goal of the tournament to No. 16 Virginia in the semifinals as they fell 1-0.
Postseason Success in the America East
Since 2014, the America East has had four different programs reach the NCAA Round of 16: UAlbany, UMBC, New Hampshire and Vermont. UAlbany (2016), and UMBC (2014) have each reached once. UNH advanced in 2017 and 2021, while Vermont has reached each of the past three seasons (2022, 2023, 2024). Since 2021, the league is 12-6-2 in the NCAA tournament.
Multiple Teams in NCAA Tournament
From 2021-2023 the America East had multiple teams reach the NCAA tournament each season. In 2021 and 2022 both Vermont and New Hampshire qualified. Those two programs, along with Bryant all qualified in 2023.
Catching the Catamounts
Vermont has the most NCAA tournament wins of any program in the nation over the past three seasons, with nine victories. They broke a tie with Indiana in last Saturday’s win and are 9-2-1 in the NCAA tournament over that span.
New England Programs in the College Cup
Vermont is the first New England school to reach the National Championship game since UConn in 2000. The Huskies went on to win the 2000 National Title.
Scoring Machine
Yaniv Bazini has scored in five consecutive NCAA tournament games. He is the first player to accomplish that feat since Marcel Zajac of Akron scored in five straight contests in 2018, and finished with six total goals as Akron lost in the Championship. No player has ever scored in all six games of an NCAA Tournament.
From Unseeded to NCAA Championship Game
Vermont is 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.
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 and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -