FINAL SCORE: #7 Vermont 2, #18 Charlotte 2
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Pieter Bultman and
Shalom Adja both scored for No. 7 Vermont (2-0-1) while
Niklas Herceg tied a career high making seven saves on Friday night as UVM battled to a 2-2 draw with No. 18 Charlotte (1-0-2) from Virtue Field in front of a sold-out crowd in Catamount Country.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
COACH'S QUOTE
"We played a very strong Charlotte team tonight, and I'm proud of the way our guys competed and responded to the challenges they presented," said Head Coach Adrian Dubois. "We showed resilience and fight, especially at the end, but the game also exposed some areas where we need to improve. We'll learn from it, make the necessary adjustments, and continue to move forward."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Catamounts struck first in the 22nd minute of play on a corner kick, seeing Luis Fischer take the kick and place it in a spot where Bultman was able to finesse a header towards the net. Alex Svetanoff was able to get his hands on it, but the power behind Bultman's header was too much, seeing the ball go to the upper middle part of the net as Bultman secured his second career goal, earning Vermont the opening 1-0 advantage.
- Charlotte bounced back in the second half when the American Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year selection, Natsuki Ogata, buried his first goal of the season at the 48th minute mark, knotting the match at 1-1. Larry Noel was awarded an assist on the 49ers first goal.
- Vermont regained the lead ten minutes later in the 58th minute, seeing David Ismail set up Adja who was outside the goalkeeper's box. Adja took a couple strides towards the middle and unleashed a shot with his right foot to the bottom left corner, scoring his first goal as a Catamount, earning UVM the 2-1 advantage.
- The 49ers came back from down one-goal for the second time in the match, this time in the 79th minute when Noel was able to get a shot through the legs of Herceg, scoring his second goal of the season, knotting the match at 2-2.
- The Catamounts were applying immense pressure in the final minutes of the match in hope of a go-ahead goal, highlighted by Philipp Schmidtke taking a shot towards the top left corner with five second remaining, but his shot skimmed the top of the goal, narrowly missing, ultimately ending the match in a 2-2 draw.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Adja played in a career high 71 minutes against Charlotte, scoring his first goal as a Catamount.
- Bultman notched his second career goal on Friday, playing the full 90 minutes for the fourth time in his career.
- Ismail and Fischer each notched one assist. It's Fischer's second assist of the season and Ismail's first.
- Herceg made seven saves against Charlotte, tying a career high in that department for the third time.
- UVM had five corner kicks to Charlotte's four.
UP NEXT
Following the draw with No. 18 Charlotte, the Catamounts will get four days to prepare for their next non-conference bout, hosting Holy Cross on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. Tuesday's matchup against the Crusaders will be the annual Pep Rally game presented by TD Bank, and the final match of a four match homestand to open the season. Fans can receive a free co-branded t-shirt from TD Bank, a co-branded hat from Consolidated Electrical Distributors, a treatment discount from Float Away Wellness Spa, and can enjoy free sampling and other small giveaways from the following partners along the concourse: Redstone, Lake Champlain Chocolate
s, Jersey Mikes,
Cabot, Keurig,
Vermont Federal Credit Union, Kountry Kart Deli, Dunkin', Burlington Telecom, Kinney Drugs, Texas Roadhouse and McDonald's. All the action will be streamed live on ESPN+ with
Brian McLaughlin on the call.
Join the Catamounts on Tour as Men's Soccer visits Hofstra!
Vermont fans are invited to join us on Tuesday, September 15 from 5-6:30 for a pregame social with pizza and giveaways in the parking lot next to Captain's Field at Hofstra University and then head into the game for the 7pm start! For more information and to let us know you plan to join us, please visit
go.uvm.edu/catsathofstra!
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 is the presenting sponsor of Vermont soccer
