FINAL SCORE: #7 Vermont 2, UMBC 0
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont (7-0-3, 1-0 AE) men's soccer defeated UMBC (4-4-1, 0-1 AE) 2-0 on Saturday afternoon from Virtue Field during Vermont's UVM Weekend and Spread Respect game. With the win, the Catamounts secure the first conference win of the season and tally three crucial conference points.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
CatamounTV Highlights 
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Really good to get the shutout," said Head Coach Rob Dow. "Felt like we could have scored one or two more. We had a lot of changes, and the great thing is we got guys like Shalom in the game, Brady Costin who we haven't seen yet this year, two guys this season who we haven't seen step up and give us really great minutes."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Neither team was able to find the back of the net during the first 45 minutes of action. Vermont held UMBC to zero shots on goal throughout the first half. UVM saw a handful of quality chances, notching four shots on net behind the efforts of Maximilian Kissel, Marcell Papp, Ludvig af Ugglas, and David Ismail recording one each.
• The Catamounts broke through in the 49th minute off their sixth corner kick of the match, seeing Nico Loebus take the kick, finding the head of Rui Aoki who put a shot on net. Aoki's shot was blocked, but af Ugglas was there to bury a header into the right-side corner, notching his first career collegiate goal and earning Vermont a 1-0 advantage early in the second half.
• Vermont doubled its lead in the 63rd minute thanks to Andrew Millar feeding Ryan Zellefrow in the box, seeing Zellefrow use his right foot to direct the ball towards the right side of the net, tallying his third goal of the season, earning UVM a 2-0 lead.
• Niklas Herceg stood tall in the 76th minute, denying a two-on-one rush that resulted in Ryan Calheira ripping a shot on net, but Herceg's two hand punch launched the ball out of harm's way, keeping UVM's shutout hopes alive with less than 15 minutes remaining.
• The Catamounts were able to control the ball for the majority of the remainder of the match, securing the 2-0 shutout victory over UMBC to open America East play.  

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Zellefrow notched his third goal of the season, a new career high, to go along with a tied match high two shots on goal. Zellefrow has scored three goals in Vermont's last two matches.  
• Af Ugglas registered his first career collegiate goal against the Retrievers.
• Millar tallied his fourth assist on the season, leading the entire America East in assists thus far.
• Herceg registered his fourth shutout of the season, tied for the most in America East.
• Toby Grant played all 90 minutes of action on Saturday afternoon, a career high. Niels Hartman and af Ugglas were the other two Catamount field players to play the full 90 minutes.
• Shalom Adja and Brady Costin each recorded their first minutes in the Green and Gold on Saturday afternoon.
• UVM outshot UMBC on goal eight to four.
• Vermont took eight corner kicks to UMBC's six.
• With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Lund Family Center through the Cat's Win, Community Win'sinitiative. Vermont Mutual has donated over $5 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.
   

UP NEXT
Following the win over UMBC, the Catamounts hit the road, traveling to Newark, NJ for more conference action when they face NJIT on Saturday, Oct. 4. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
For news and updates about the Vermont men's soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.

East Rise Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer.