FINAL SCORE: #9 Vermont 3, Lehigh 1
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Three first half goals by No. 9 Vermont (3-0-2) led the Catamounts to victory over Lehigh (2-1-2) on Saturday evening in front of a sold-out crowd at Virtue Field, handing the Mountain Hawks their first loss of the 2025 season. Saturday's contest was Vermont's annual Youth Day Presented by Healthy Living.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | CatamounTV Highlights
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Credit to Lehigh and their game plan, we never felt comfortable in the game," said Head Coach Rob Dow. "I'm happy with the start but we are still growing to put together a complete 90-minute performance. Looking forward to Dartmouth."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vermont was clicking on all cylinders early in the match, scoring their first goal of the contest in the 10th minute when Ryan Zellefrow launched a breakout pass to a sprinting Marcell Papp, wasting no time to feed Maximilian Kissel who was streaking up the middle. Kissel broke free from the Lehigh defenders, having a breakaway with just Anton Kinnunen in his way. He used his right foot to shoot bottom left, scoring his third goal of the season, earning UVM the 1-0 lead.
• The Catamounts struck again in the 39th minute, seeing David Ismail drive a shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner with his left foot, securing his first goal of the season and giving Vermont a 2-0 advantage.
• Just as it looked the second half was going to end, Thaddeus Liquori scored his first career collegiate goal in the 44th minute, shooting the ball with his left foot from outside the box, getting a friendly bounce of a Lehigh defender and finding the bottom left corner, earning UVM the 3-0 first half lead.
• Lehigh cut the deficit to 3-1 in the 63rd minute when a Vermont foul led to a free kick opportunity. Landon Bealer took the kick, finding Luciano Larrea for his second goal of the season.
•  Each team saw several opportunities to find the back of the net in the final 25 minutes of play, but both goaltenders stood their ground as the Catamounts walked away with their sixth straight win on Virtue Field.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Liquori scored his first career collegiate goal vs Lehigh on Saturday.
• Kissel notched his third goal of the season. He has registered a goal or an assist in four out of five of the Catamounts matches this season.
• Ismail recorded his first goal of the season.
• Papp registered one assist, his third of the season, to go along with a game high two shots on goal.
• Zellefrow notched his first point of the season, garnering one assist against Lehigh.
• Jeremy Tsang and Connor Thompson each recorded their first points of the season, earning one assist each on Saturday.
• Philipp Kuhn appeared in his second match as a Catamount, earning one assist against Lehigh. Kuhn has notched a point in each of his two appearances for the Catamounts.
• UVM outshot Lehigh on goal nine to three.
• With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Lund Family Center through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative.  Vermont Mutual has donated over $5 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.

 
UP NEXT
Following the win over Lehigh, the Catamounts get three days to prepare for Ivy League foe, Dartmouth, gearing up for the second game of a four-game homestand. The match is scheduled for Tuesday, Sep. 9 from Virtue Field. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and will be Vermont's annual Military Appreciation Night presented by Milton Cat.
 
For news and updates about the Vermont men's soccer program, follow @UVMmsoccer on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.

EastRise Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer