PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Catamount defense earned its third shutout of the NCAA Tournament as Vermont downed No. 2 Pittsburgh 2-0 and advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history on Saturday afternoon.
Vermont’s Maximilian Kissel took advantage of a defensive miscue and fired a beautiful shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute and the defense did the rest to secure the program’s first trip to the NCAA College Cup. The Catamounts will face off against Denver on Friday in Cary, North Carolina at either 5 PM or 7:30 PM on ESPNU.
UVM joins UMBC’s 2014 squad as the only two programs from the America East to advance into the NCAA Semifinals. The Catamounts are the first team from New England to reach the College Cup since Providence achieved the feat back in 2014. The 2-0 shutout marked their third clean sheet of the Tournament for the Catamounts who have outscored their opponents 10-1 in the tournament and 14-3 during their current six-game win streak.
Kissel provided the lead early in the second half and UVM weathered multiple Panther attacks, highlighted by a diving Niklas Herceg save late in the period to maintain a 1-0 advantage.
Yaniv Bazini then put the game away in the final 15 seconds as he forced a misplay by the Pitt keeper and he was able to knock the ball into the net with just 11 seconds remaining for a 2-0 lead. Herceg finished the contest with a career-high nine saves in the victory.
Bazini has now scored in four consecutive NCAA Tournament games. He is the first player to accomplish that feat since Marcel Zajac of Akron scored in five straight contests in 2019, and finished with six total goals as Akron lost in the Championship.
Vermont has nine NCAA Tournament wins over the past three seasons, the most of any program in the entire country. The four wins is the most for an America East team ever in the NCAA Tournament. Vermont previous had the record of three, set in 20022. UMBC was 2-1-2 in 2014 as they advanced to the College Cup.
Interested fans can purchased tickets for the NCAA Semifinals in Cary, N.C. at NCAA.com.
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