FINAL SCORE: Vermont 9, UMBC 6
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Vermont Catamounts closed out the 2018 regular season with a 9-6 win over UMBC under the lights at Virtue Field.
 
The 2018 Cats went a perfect 4-0 at home, the first UVM squad since 1994 to go unbeaten at home. The 2018 squad became just the second Catamount team to record 11 wins in a season, matching the win total from the 1986 season.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
CatamounTV Highlights
 
"Our team is really happy to be able to honor our seniors with a tough win on Virtue tonight," head coach Chris Feifs said. "This group of seniors has taken this program to new heights with their leadership and dedication. We will certainly miss them but our season is not over yet; we are excited to play in the AE Tournament and will be ready to put our best foot forward against whatever opponent is in front of us."
 
Nick Washuta became just the first goalie in Catamount history to record 11 wins in a single season. He sits sixth in the all-time record with 15 career wins.
 
Braiden Davis opened the scoring 5:59 into the game with an unassisted tally past UMBC rookie keeper Tommy Lingner. Billy Nolan responded with a pair of goals to put the Retrievers up 2-1 with 4:06 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Liam Rischmann and Dawes Milchling scored back-to-back goals in the final three minutes of the first quarter to give Vermont a 3-2 lead at the break.
 
Faceoff specialist Charlie Erdmann finished the quarter with two ground balls, becoming just the 20th Catamount to record 100 in a career. He finished the game with five GBs and was a resounding 16-for-19 at the X.
 
The Retrievers tied the game early in the second quarter off a Steven Zichelli tally and Nolan assist. But Davis and Milchling each scored their second goals of the game to put UVM back up, 5-3, at halftime.
 
Liam Limoges scored an unassisted goal 57 seconds into the second half to give Vermont a 6-3 advantage. He then assisted on the next goal, Ben French's first of the game. Limoges moves further up the Catamount freshman scoring records and French scored for the 16th straight game.
 
After UMBC cut the lead to 7-4, MacKay scored his first goal of the game and 144th of his career for Vermont's eighth goal.
 
The Retrievers cut the lead back to 8-6 halfway through the fourth quarter off goals from Zichelli and Nolan, respectively. The leading UMBC scoring pair finished the game with five goals and five assists for 10 points. Zach Kalas was the only other Retriever to find the back of the net.
 
Rischmann sealed the game for the Catamounts with his second of the game with 5:56 remaining to put the Cats up 9-6. Washuta and the defense remained stout, and the Cats took the win by the same score.
 
Washuta finished the game with 11 saves between the pipes and finishes the regular season with a save percentage above .600. Lingner recorded seven saves in the loss.

With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year's total to 57 wins and $5,700.
 
Vermont earns the third seed in next week's America East Tournament and will play either Stony Brook or Albany. The Cats will play at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday regardless of opponent.
 
NFP is the presenting sponsor of the 2018 men's lacrosse season