WOMEN'S SOCCER NOTEBOOK
The top-seeded Vermont Catamounts (11-5-1, 7-2-0) will host the first America East Championship game in program history Sunday as they face the six-seed New Hampshire Wildcats (6-8-4, 4-4-1) at 2 p.m. from Virtue Field. The action will be broadcast live for free on AmericaEast.TV with Brian McLaughlin on the call.
 
Tickets for the championship are $8 for adults, $5 for youth ages 14 and under and $2 for non-UVM America East students with a valid school ID. UVM students will receive free admission. All youth soccer players wearing a jersey and their families are eligible to purchase tickets for $2 each on gameday at the Gutterson Fieldhouse box office.
 
RELATED LINKS
America East Championship Central
CatamounTV Press Conference: Coach Huizenga
Live Stats
Buy Tickets
Watch Live
 
EIGHTH STRAIGHT IN THE SEMIFINAL | CatamounTV Highlights
In front of a raucous Virtue Field crowd Thursday night the Catamounts scored three unanswered goals after conceding on an early penalty to defeat UAlbany 3-1 in the first America East semifinal. Karen Wallace notched her first career multi-goal contest with the first and third goals for the Catamounts while First-Team All-Conference defender Alex West added the other. Lydia Kessel made seven saves in net for Vermont.
 
WILDCATS PATH TO BURLINGTON
UNH upset the two-seed UMass Lowell in penalty kicks Thursday evening. Down 1-0 UNH created the equalizer in the 80th minute when Anna Hewlett headed one home on a cross from Ella Dudley. After two overtimes the penalty kick battle lasted 10 rounds and ended on a Cat Sheppard save. Over the last week UNH has played 220 minutes of soccer, they also upset the three-seed NJIT in penalty kicks last weekend.
 
TOP-SEED CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY
Under the current format instituted in 2003 the top-seed has hosted the America East Championship Game 15 times. The top-seed is 10-4-1 in those 15 games, as the top-seed Boston University won the championship in penalties in 2003. Three of the top-seed losses were Hartford falling in the 2015, 2014 and 2012 title games at home. In 2007 the top-seed New Hampshire fell to Boston University 2-1.
 
SIX-SEED CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY
Under the current format UNH is the fourth six-seed to advance to the championship game. Six-seeds are 1-2-0 in the title game in America East history. The last team to do it was Vermont in 2017. The Catamounts upset the three-seed UAlbany (2-1) and then the two-seed Binghamton (1-0) before falling to the five-seed Stony Brook in the title game by a score of 2-1. In 2012 Stony Brook won the title as the six seed and in 2010 Maine lost 4-0 at Boston University as the six-seed.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own an 21-17-5 edge in the all-time series with the Catamounts. Vermont hadn't defeated UNH at home since 2011 before beating the Wildcats 3-0 on the final game of the regular season on October 28. Alexa Mihale scored twice for UVM and Alyssa Oviedo scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season as UVM won its seventh straight contest.
 
UVM and UNH have met only once before in the America East postseason. In the 2005 quarterfinals UNH defeated the Catamounts 1-0 in double overtime on the campus of Boston University.
 
MAJOR AWARDS FOR THE CATAMOUNTS
Ella Bankert was named Midfielder of the Year, Lydia Kessel was named Goalkeeper of the Year and UVM's coaching staff led by Kristi Huizenga was honored as Coaching Staff of the Year on Tuesday. It is the first time in program history that a UVM student-athlete in women's soccer has been honored as Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
Bankert is the first Vermont player to win an America East major positional award. She led a midfield that helped Vermont obtain a league-best +10 goal differential in league play. Kessel leads the conference averaging 6.4 saves per game. She was at her best in conference play, ranking first in save percentage (.903), third in GAA (.646) and tied for second in shutouts (4). Led by Coach Huizenga in her 11th season, Vermont captured its second-ever regular season title. Huizenga is assisted by Michael Skelton and Gene Bushey.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
The Catamounts also had several players honored on the All-Conference teams. Alyssa Oviedo, Ella Banker, Alex West and Lydia Kessel were honored on the First Team. It is the first time since 1997 that UVM has had two members on the First Team. Senior defender Natalie Durieux was named to the All-Conference Second Team. Bailey Ayer and Maddy Cronin were named to the All-Rookie team.
 
ANATOMY OF A STREAK
Vermont's current eight-game win streak is its longest since the 1979 campaign when the Catamounts opened the season with 13 straight wins. The 1996 and 2021 team, both regular season champions, are the only teams in program history to win seven regular season conference games. It is the first time Vermont has scored two or more goals in eight straight games since 2005.
 
SUPER SOCCER SEASONS FOR CATAMOUNTS
This fall marked the first time in UVM Athletics history that the men's and women's soccer programs both earned byes in the America East Tournament and the right to host a semifinal. Together the men's and women's programs went 13-3-1 in league play including a 7-1-0 mark at Virtue Field.
 
NCAA SELECTION SHOW MONDAY
The winner of Sunday's America East Championship game will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Division I women's soccer tournament field will be unveiled on Monday, November 8 at 4:30 p.m. in a broadcast live on NCAA.com.