BURLINGTON, Vt. – For the second year in a row the Catamounts defeated Bryant to claim the #AEMSOC title. Vermont recorded two first-half goals, 10 minutes apart, and kept a clean sheet for 90 minutes to grab the conference’s automatic qualifier and remain undefeated heading in to the NCAA Tournament.
David Ismail was honored as the Most Outstanding Player after recording the game-tying assist and game-winning goal in the semifinals before logging an insurace goal in the #AEMSOC Championship game
Both Vermont and Bryant will find out their tournament fates on Monday afternoon during the NCAA Men’s Soccer Selection Show at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.
How it Happened:
- Enzo Carvalho came up with a huge save for the Bulldogs in the 25th minute, keeping the match scoreless after the Catamounts slipped a through-ball off a free kick into the box.
- A Vermont free kick was blocked by the Bulldogs’ defensive wall, but the rebound fell to Devesa Blasco, who quickly played it to Omar Robbana on the left side. Robbana worked past defenders and fired a shot across the box to open the scoring giving the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
- Vermont doubled the lead in the 39th minute when Marcell Papp found David Ismail in open space on the far side, and Ismail finished it off to make it 2–0.
- At the end of the half the Catamounts had a narrow edge in shots, 9-8, and both teams ended the opening frame with a corner each.
- The Bulldogs came out in the second half pressing early, trying to get on board with a shot just wide in the 48th minute, and a ball with an off bounce in the box in the 53rd minute, but they were unable to convert
- Bryant logged seven second-half shots, forcing the Vermont net-minder, Herceg, to make four saves over the final 45 minutes
- The Catamounts lone second-half scoring chance came in the 64th minute when Philipp Kühn's shot deflected over a Bulldog defender, forcing Carvalho to tip it over the net
Karl Daly of Vermont was named the winner of the Elite 18 award for posting the highest GPA of any athlete in the championship. The senior has a 3.90 GPA majoring in Business Administration
All-Championship Team
| UAlbany |
Ivar Gissurarson |
| UMBC |
Emigolo Tormo Lopez |
| UMass Lowell |
Aamir Ketbache |
| UMass Lowell |
Shunnosuke Nakajima |
| New Hampshire |
Scott Williams |
| New Hampshire |
Matteo Piccardo |
| Bryant |
Enzo Carvalho |
| Bryant |
Mamadi Jiana |
| Bryant |
Fermin Rodriguez |
| Vermont |
Rui Aoki |
| Vermont |
Marcos Blasco |
| Vermont |
Niklas Herceg |
| Vermont |
David Isamail |
Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
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.
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