FINAL SCORE: Vermont 2, UMass 2
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Connor Thompson and
Max Murray each found the back of the net Tuesday night, extending Vermont's (4-1-4, 0-0-1 AE) unbeaten streak to eight after earning the comeback draw with UMass (5-2-3, 1-1-0 A10) at Virtue Field during the Catamounts' annual Rally Against Cancer Game presented by Mascoma Bank.
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COACH'S QUOTE
"We had a poor start and a great finish to the game," said Head Coach
Rob Dow. "It will take 90 minutes of effort to win big games. We're not there yet."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UMass found the back of the net in the 16th minute of play, capitalizing on the first scoring chance of the match when Andrew Ortiz snuck his shot through the low left corner for his first goal of the season. Matt Cence was awarded an assist on the goal.
- The Minutemen doubled their score in the 37th minute of the first half after an impressive exchange of passes between Brad Moccio and Aidan Kelly set up Ortiz to dial up his second goal of the game to give UMass the 2-0 lead.
- Vermont responded, cutting the deficit in half during the 40th minute of action after Sydney Wathuta sent the ball to the center of the box, finding Connor Thompson who buried the loose ball in the top right corner with his right foot, scoring his first career goal and pulling the Catamounts to within one, 2-1.
- After nearly a whole second half of repeated scoring chances from Vermont, the Catamounts finally cashed in and knotted the score at 2-2 in the 81st minute when Wathuta crossed the ball in the box from the short side, making its way to the front of the net where Max Murray was there to crash in and bury the game-tying goal for his third tally of the season with time quickly running out.
- Wathuta saw the last opportunity of the match in the 86th minute, taking his second shot of the night with the right foot, missing high right, keeping the score knotted at 2-2 as the Catamounts gathered their fourth draw of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- First Year Goalkeeper Niklas Herceg made his first career start against UMass, making two total saves.
- Murray scored his third goal of the season against the Minutemen, 17th in his career, attempting two shots on net throughout the match. All three of Murray's goals this season have come in the second half, with two coming in the final 10 minutes of action, (88th minute) and (81st minute).
- Connor Thompson scored his first career goal in a Catamount jersey, extending his point streak to three games.
- Vermont outshot UMass 19-11, and beat them in shots on goal, 9-4.
UP NEXT
Following the Catamounts draw with UMass, Vermont hits the road for their second conference matchup of the season with America East foe, UAlbany, on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Albany, NY. Saturday's matchup with the Great Danes is scheduled for 6 p.m.
For news and updates about the Vermont men's soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
New England Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer
