BURLINGTON, Vt. – No. 23 Vermont (8-2-4, 3-1-1 AE) heads back out on the road in America East action as they travel to Massachusetts to face UMass Lowell (6-3-5, 1-1-2 AE) Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Catamounts final regular season road match. The action from Cushing Field will air live for free on AmericaEast.TV.
 
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INSIDE THE MATCHUP

• The River Hawks are 0-2-2 in their last four matches, all in America East play. UMass Lowell has scored just three goals in that four-game span.
• At Cushing Field this season UMass Lowell is 3-1-4. Their only loss came to Bryan in a 2-1 decision on October 12.
• In the River Hawks last match senior Yanis Lakhlifi scored on a PK in their 1-1 draw with NJIT.
• Lakhlifi is the River Hawks leading scorer this season with a career-high four goals and one assist for nine points.
• UVM has won six-straight meetings against UMass Lowell and owns a 7-2-3 record in the all-time series. The Catamounts have outscored the River Hawks 13-3 during their six-game winning streak.
• In the teams' last meet at UML Max Murray scored his first career multi-goal game against the River Hawks on October 1, 2022 at Cushing Field in a 4-0 UVM win.

CATS WELL-POSITIONED IN RPI
Vermont is currently No. 26 in the NCAA RPI Rankings after its 1-0 setback at UMBC last weekend. The Catamounts are the highest-rated America East school, ahead of New Hampshire (No. 46) and Bryant (No. 59). Vermont's final regular season opponent Binghamton is ranked 83rd.  America East is rated as the ninth-toughest league among the 22 NCAA Division I conferences sponsoring men's soccer.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS ON VERMONT

• Since 2021 the Catamounts are 20-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
• Vermont's 1-0 loss to UMBC was their first setback since the season opener at No. 14 Western Michigan. Vermont had been on a 12-game unbeaten streak, it was the second time in Coach Dow's career UVM had been unbeaten in 12 games (2022).
• Vermont's current .714 winning percentage is 22nd best in the NCAA.
• The Catamounts offense and depth has come through time and time again this season. UVM has scored 11 goals in the 76th minute or later and eight goals in the 83rd minute or later this year.
• Sydney Wathuta leads the team and America East with nine this season. His nine assists are tied for fifth-best in Division I. His .69 assists per game is ranked fourth nationally.
• The Catamounts are a +16 in terms of goal differential this season, which ranks first in America East and tied for 20th in the NCAA.
• UMBC's second half tally against Vermont snapped a shutout streak of 339:47 by first year Niklas Herceg.

AMERICA EAST PLAYOFF PICTURE

• Vermont currently has 10 points in league play and is tied for first place with New Hampshire. Last season the AE Regular Season Champion had 15 points. Since 2012 the top-seed in the America East Tournament has had between 15-19 points.
• New Hampshire travels to third place NJIT for a matchup tomorrow night.
• Vermont will clinch its spot in the 2024 America East Tournament with a win tomorrow, tie tomorrow, or a Binghamton loss tomorrow.
• If Vermont and New Hampshire remained tied at the top of the standings the tiebreaks are as follows
  • Record vs. the rest of the league – with Vermont's loss to UMBC and UNH's loss to Binghamton, the top-seed would go to the school who's dropped game came to a team higher in the final standings
  • Next tiebreak would be total conference goal differential (entering this weekend UNH and Vermont are both plus-five)
  • Next tiebreak would be total conference goals (entering this weekend UNH has 11 league goals, while UVM has eight)

REGULAR SEASON FINALE TUESDAY AT VIRTUE FIELD

• The Catamounts close out the regular season hosting Binghamton on Tuesday, November 5 at 6 p.m. from Virtue Field. Fans can purchase tickets for that matchup at go.uvm.edu/nov5. The action from will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ryan Zimmerman on the call.

For news and updates about the Vermont men's soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
 
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