BURLINGTON, Vt. – The second-seeded Vermont Catamount scored the opening three goals of the game Wednesday night and held-on late to defeat the six-seed NJIT 3-2 in the America East Semifinal from Virtue Field. With the win, the Catamounts advanced to the America East Championship for the second straight season and the 10th time in program history.
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Postgame: Coach Dow | Morrison
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After hitting the post in the 12th minute UVM opened the scoring with more action off the woodwork in the 39th minute. Noah Egan rose up on a Nacho Lerech corner and headed a ball to the far post. It beat NJIT's goalkeeper but bounced off the post and out. Yves Borie was in the perfect spot and tapped it home for his third goal of the season.
- UVM doubled its advantage in the 61st minute. An initial shot attempt by Vermont was blocked in front by an NJIT defender and Matt Black fired the rebound back on net, NJIT's Samuel Reisgys made a fantastic diving save on the attempt but Joe Morrison didn't quit on the play. He dove to get a touch on the rebound and stashed it home for his third goal of the campaign.
- In the 78th minute UVM added another insurance marker in transition. On a two-on-two break Jacob Vitale was able to enter the 18, create some space and blow a shot past Resigys to seemingly put the game out of reach.
- In the final five minutes of regulation the Highlanders scored two goals in 2:21 to make it a one-goal contest with 2:11 left to play. Asembo Augo and Regsan Watkins scored for NJIT. In the final 2:11 of regulation UVM drew two free kicks to maintain control and see the game out.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Vermont improves to a 10-9-1 record all-time in the America East Semifinals and a 16-16-5 mark in the conference tournament.
- Vermont has now scored three or more goals in each of its last three contests. It is the first time UVM has scored three or more goals in three straight games since the 1992 campaign. UVM scored 12 goals in three games against CCSU, Illinois State and Northeastern from 9/19 – 9/30/92.
- It was the first time UVM has scored three goals in a postseason contest since scoring four against Rider in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
- Vermont is 5-1-0 all-time in the postseason when scoring three or more goals. Their only loss was a 4-3 overtime tilt in the 1975 NCAA Tournament.
- With today's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Foodbank as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Vermont Mutual has committed to donating $15,000 to Vermont Foodbank for the 2021 season. A special thank you to Vermont Mutual Insurance for their support. Vermont Mutual Insurance, protecting Vermonters since 1828.
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will face the sixth-ranked and top-seed New Hampshire in the America East Championship game Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m. in Durham. It will be a rematch of last spring's championship game which UNH won 2-0 at home. The game will air live for free on AmericaEast.TV.
UNH advanced to the title game Wednesday evening with a 4-0 win over UMBC. The Wildcats are undefeated this season with a record of 16-0-2. Vermont and Yale are the only teams this season to manage a tie against UNH. The Wildcats will be making their fourth straight appearance in the conference championship game.
Able Paint Glass & Flooring is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's soccer