FINAL SCORE: #16 Vermont 3, New Hampshire 2
BURLINGTON, Vt. – A brace from
David Ismail powered No. 16 Vermont (9-1-3, 3-0-1 AE) past New Hampshire (5-5-3, 0-3-1 AE) 3-2 on Saturday afternoon from Virtue Field during UVM's annual Rally Against Cancer game presented by Mascoma Bank.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
CatamounTV Highlights
HOW IT HAPPENED
- New Hampshire saw the first scoring opportunity of the match when a throw in by UNH resulted in David Davila getting a head on the ball, putting a try at net to the left side, but Niklas Herceg was there to make the save punching the ball off the post and out of harm's way.
- The Catamounts opened scoring in the tenth minute when a hand ball inside the box by Reed Cash sent Ismail to the penalty shot line. Ismail blasted his fourth goal of the season past Aaron Choi, earning Vermont an early 1-0 advantage.
- UNH responded in the 24th minute on a corner kick, seeing Ryo Miyata take the initial kick placing it around Laurin Preuss who flicked the ball to the top right corner of the net, knotting the match at 1-1.
- Less than ten minutes later in the 32nd minute of play, the Wildcats made it 2-1 when Davila buried a pass from Mikael Pulkkinen to the back of the net, propelling New Hampshire ahead by one goal.
- The Catamounts nearly found an equalizing goal in the 56th minute of action when Ismail used a header off a Shalom Adja cross to the box, but his attempt rang off the crossbar as UNH maintained the 2-1 advantage.
- Vermont found the equalizing goal in the 70th minute of play thanks to Philipp Schmidtke scoring his fifth goal of the season, pinning the bottom left corner, knotting the score at 2-2.
- With time quickly expiring, the Catamounts secured the go-ahead goal in the 84th minute. Luis Vetter took the initial kick off a set piece, finding Halim Bangura who soared through the air to get a head on the ball. Bangura's header went right to Ismail who one touch a rocket to the left corner, securing his brace and propelling Vermont ahead 3-2.
- The Catamounts tamed any last push from New Hampshire, walking away with the 3-2 victory over UNH from Virtue Field.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ismail recorded his second brace of the season against New Hampshire, putting him at a tied team high five goals on the campaign. Ismail also notched a tied game-high three shots on goal.
- Schmidtke registered his fifth goal of the season, tied for a team high.
- Vetter recorded his first assist of the season and now has points in back-to-back matches for the first time in his Catamount career.
- Bangura tallied his first point in the Green and Gold on Saturday, earning an assist on Vermont's game-winning goal.
- Herceg made four total saves against the Wildcats.
- UVM outshot UNH on goal eight to six.
- With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Ronald McDonald House through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative. Vermont Mutual has donated over $6.4 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund.
UP NEXT
Following the win over New Hampshire, the Catamounts will get one week to prepare for their next match, traveling to Albany, N.Y. to face UAlbany on Saturday (Oct. 24). Kickoff for the road conference showdown 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.
EastRise Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer
