FINAL SCORE: #11 Vermont 2, Sacred Heart 0
FAIRFIELD, CT. – Niklas Herceg anchored Vermont (4-0-1) on Saturday night from Park Ave Field making four critical saves against Sacred Heart (1-3-1, MAAC), notching his third clean sheet of the season as the Catamounts shutout the Pioneers 2-0 on the road. With the win, Vermont extends its road unbeaten streak to 15 matches.
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Box Score
COACH'S QUOTE
"Another great win for our team against a strong Sacred Heart team," said Head Coach Adrian Dubois. "I was especially proud of our response in the second half. After and average start, we showed tremendous resilience, composure, and character to take control of the game. We may have bent, but we never broke. Our game changers off the bench were outstanding and brought the quality and energy we needed to shift the game in our favor. A really strong second-half performance and another great team win."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sacred Heart saw the first prime scoring opportunity in the 22nd minute off the Pioneers' third corner kick of the match. Danny Istambouli took the kick, finding the head of Alex Almuzara Romero who ricocheted the ball towards the net, but his attempt rung off the post as the match remained scoreless halfway through the opening frame.
- The Pioneers were able to fire off two more shots on net before halftime, but Herceg stood tall, denying Sacred Heart of any scoring opportunities.
- The Catamounts came out in the second half with a burst of energy, immediately making an impact scoring the opening goal in the 50th minute of play off a corner kick. Luis Fischer took the initial kick, and for the third time in just as many matches, Pieter Bultman came soaring through the air using his head to place the ball in the bottom left corner, earning Vermont the 1-0 lead.
- Vermont doubled its lead in the 87th minute when a yellow card on Sacred Heart's Johan Bermudez resulted in Luis Vetter taking a free kick from just outside the goalkeeper's box. Vetter placed the shot perfectly, sailing the ball over the wall of Pioneers, pinning his shot to the bottom left corner, scoring his first goal as a Catamount and giving UVM a 2-0 lead with time quickly running out.
- A scuffle between both teams took place in the final minute of play, seeing Axier Zeberio Guereno of Sacred Heart and Shalom Adja of Vermont each receive a red card.
- Ultimately, Vermont ended up walking away with the 2-0 shutout victory, claiming the third clean sheet on the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Herceg notched his third shutout of the year making four saves against Sacred Heart. Herceg is now up to 19 career shutouts, good for the sixth most by a Vermont goalkeeper in program history.
- Bultman scored his third goal of the season, extending his goal streak to three matches. Bultman was also one of three Catamounts to play the entire 90 minutes of action (Islam Houssni and Stepan Fiker).
- Vetter tallied his first career goal as a Catamount while playing in 30 total minutes.
- Fischer recorded one assist against Sacred Heart, extending his point streak to four matches. Fischer now has four assists on the year, leading UVM and America East in that department.
- The Catamounts improve their record to 4-0-1, marking the best five-match start to a season since 2021 when Vermont went a perfect 5-0-0 to begin that campaign.
- UVM outshot Sacred Heart on goal six to four.
- Vermont had nine corner kicks to Sacred Heart's seven.
- The Catamounts scored first again on Saturday, doing so in every match so far this season. Vermont has also never trailed in a contest in 2026.
- 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 at Sacred Heart, the Catamounts will get three days to prepare for another road match, traveling to Boston to take on Patriot League foe, Boston University, taking place on Tuesday, Sep. 8. Kickoff for the non-conference matchup is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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
