2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer team

2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer
2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer
NCAA tournament College Cup National Champions; AAC tournament champions
National Championship Game, ; W 2–1OT vs. Marshall
Conference	America East Conference
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. 17
Record	16–2–6 (6–1–2 AAC)
Head coach	Rob Dow (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Brad Cole (2nd season); Rory Twomey (2nd season);
Home stadium	Virtue Field
	Seasons ← 2023 2025 →

2024 America East Conference men's soccer standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
New Hampshire	4	–	1	–	2	7	–	3	–	7
No. 1 Vermont ‡	4	–	1	–	2	16	–	2	–	6
UMBC	4	–	2	–	1	8	–	7	–	4
Bryant	4	–	3	–	0	11	–	5	–	4
NJIT	2	–	3	–	2	6	–	8	–	4
Binghamton	2	–	3	–	2	8	–	7	–	4
UMass Lowell	1	–	4	–	2	6	–	5	–	5
Albany	1	–	5	–	1	4	–	12	–	2

‡ – AAC tournament champion + – At-large invitation to the 2024 NCAA tournament As of December 17, 2024 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: America East

The 2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer team represented the University of Vermont during the 2024 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. They were led by head coach Rob Dow, in his seventh season. They played their home games at Virtue Field. This was the team's 60th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 36th playing in the America East Conference.

Regarded as the program's best season in its history, the Catamounts started the season with a loss to ranked Western Michigan and a draw with UC Irvine. These results saw them fall from their preseason ranking of fourteenth to unranked the following week.^[1]^[2] Despite a slow start, they followed it up with not losing a game for 11 decisions, going 8–0–3, with conference wins over Bryant and rival Albany. They started conference play with a tie to New Hampshire. They would go on to win their next three conference games before their first conference loss against UMBC on October 26. That match would be the last match that Vermont would lose for the remainder of the season. They would follow that with a win and a draw to close out the regular season with a 9–2–5 overall record and a 4–1–2 AE record. The Catamounts were the second overall seed in the AE tournament. They defeated third seed UMBC in the Semi-Finals and fourth seed Bryant in the Finals where Vermont won their seventh AE tournament title.^[3]

The tournament victory earned Vermont the AE's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Vermont, however, were not ranked. Despite this, the Catamounts went on a cinderella run, defeating Iona in the first round, seventh seed Hofstra in the second round, San Diego in the third round, and second seed Pittsburgh in the Quarterfinals to reach the College Cup. A victory over third seed Denver saw them reach the national title match against Marshall.^[4] Vermont would go on to defeat Marshall in overtime and win the national title 2–1. The national title was the first in program history as well as the first NCAA team championship in school history.^[5]^[6]

Background

The Catamounts finished the season 13–6–2 overall and 4–3–0 in AE play to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Despite being the fourth overall seed in the AE Tournament, they were defeated by NJIT in the Quarterfinals. They were given a bid to the NCAA Tournament and were unranked. However, they defeated Rider in the first round, upset twelfth seed UCF in the second round, before losing to fifth seed West Virginia in the third round.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Transfers

Players leaving

Note: This column lists players who left the program before the 2024 season. It does not include those who departed before the 2023-24 season. Only players who exited during the offseason leading up to the 2024 season or just before it began are included here.

2024 transfers from the Vermont Catamounts^[10]
No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
2	Daniel Pacella	Midfielder	5′ 10″	170	Senior	Montreal, Quebec (CAN)	Transferred to San Diego State
35	Jacob Vitale	Midfielder	5′ 9″	175	Senior	Rochester, New York (USA)	Transferred to Fairfield
6	Jake Ashford	Defender	6′ 2″	165	Senior	Shawnee, Kansas (USA)	Graduated
17	Ryan Combe	Midfielder	5′ 11″	145	Senior	York, Maine (USA)	Graduated
14	Noe Coutino	Left Winger	5′ 11″	161	Sophomore	Ciudad Juárez, Mexico (MEX)	Left program
13	Carter Johnson	Midfielder	5′ 11″	166	Senior	Sandy, Utah (USA)	Graduated

Players arriving

2024 transfers to the Vermont Catamounts^[10]
No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
0	Lou Liedtka	Goalkeeper	6′ 0″	175	Graduate Student	Wyncote, Pennsylvania	University of Davidson
2	Nathan Simeon	Defender	5′ 11″	175	Graduate Student	Montreal, Quebec	University of San Francisco
3	Mike Bleeker	Defender	6′ 0″	190	Graduate Student	Wayne, New Jersey	American University
9	Maximilian Kissel	Forward	6′ 0″	150	Junior	Wiesbaden, Germany	University of Bridgeport
14	Ethan Czaporowski	Forward	5′ 8″	160	Sophomore	Belchertown, Massachusetts	Virginia Tech University

Recruiting class

2024 Vermont Catamounts Incoming Transfers^[10]
Nat.	Name	Pos.	Hometown	High School	TDS Rating
USA	Ryan Zellefrow	Forward	Berwyn, Pennsylvania	Conestoga High School	^[11]

Squad

Roster

As of January 21, 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

2024 Vermont Catamounts roster^[10]
No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Age	Committed	Previous club
0	Lou Liedtka	United States	GK	23	2024	University of Davidson (USA)
1	Niklas Herceg	Germany	GK	21	2024	VfL 08 Vichttal (GER)
2	Nathan Simeon	Canada	DF	25	2024	University of San Francisco (USA)
3	Mike Bleeker	United States	DF	–	2024	American University (USA)
4	Cole Richardson	United States	DF	–	2021	–
5	Adrian Schulze Solano	Germany	DF	25	2021	FSV Frankfurt (GER)
6	Connor Thompson	United States	MF	–	2021	–
5	Andrew Millar	United States	MF	–	2022	–
9	Niels Hartman	Gibraltar	MF	24	2023	Loughborough University (UK)
10	Maximilian Kissel	Germany	FW	22	2024	University of Bridgeport (USA)
11	Nick Lockermann	Germany	DF	22	2023	–
12	Yaniv Bazini	Israel	FW	25	2022	NC State University (USA)
13	Nash Barlow	United States	MF	–	2023	–
14	David Ismail	Germany	FW	22	2024	SpVgg Bayreuth (GER)
15	Ethan Czaporowski	Germany	FW	–	2024	Virginia Tech University (USA)
16	Gianluca Armellino	United States	FW	20	2023	Manhattan SC (USA)
17	Ioannis Vassiliou	Germany	DF	23	2024	FC Eddersheim (GER)
18	Marcell Papp	Hungary	FW	24	2024	Diósgyőri VTK (HUN)
19	Toby Grant	United States	DF	–	2024	–
21	Karl Daly	United States	DF	–	2022	–
22	Sydney Wathuta	Canada	FW	20	2023	Vermont Green FC (USA)
24	TJ Liquori	United States	MF	–	2023	–
25	Pieter Bultman	United States	DF	–	2023	–
27	Ryan Zellefrow	United States	FW	18	2024	–
28	Zach Barrett	United States	DF	23	2020	FC Motown (USA)
31	Jeremy Tsang	Hong Kong	DF	19	2023	Black Rock FC (USA)
36	Max Murray	United States	FW	23	2020	FC Motown (USA)
99	Mitchell Ringman	United States	GK	–	2024	–

Coaching staff

Technical staff^[12]
Position	Name	Nationality
Head coach	Rob Dow	Canada
Assistant coach	Rory Twomey	United States
Associate head coach	Brad Cole	United States
Director of Operations	Mack Walton	United States
Athletic Director	Jeff Schulman	United States

Schedule

Source: UVM^[13]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular season
August 22* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	No. 14	at No. 12 West Michigan	L 1–3	0–1–0	WMU Soccer Complex (410) Kalamazoo, Michigan
August 29* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UC Irvine	T 1–1	0–1–1	Anteater Stadium (361) Irvine, California
September 2* 7:00 p.m.		at San Diego	W 1–0	1–1–1	SDSU Sports Deck (313) San Diego, California
September 7* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		American	T 1–1	1–1–2	Virtue Field (795) Burlington, Vermont
September 10* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Lehigh	W 3–2	2–1–2	Ulrich Sports Complex (230) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
September 14* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Fairfield	W 5–0	3–1–2	Virtue Field (726) Burlington, Vermont
September 21* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Harvard	W 5–0	4–1–2	Virtue Field (1,310) Burlington, Vermont
September 28 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		New Hampshire	T 1–1	4–1–3	Virtue Field (1,989) Burlington, Vermont
October 1 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		UMass	T 2–2	4–1–4	Virtue Field (611) Burlington, Vermont
October 5 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UAlbany	W 4–1	5–1–4	Bob Ford Field (1,143) Albany, New York
October 8 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		UConn	W 1–0	6–1–4	Virtue Field (667) Burlington, Vermont
October 13 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		NJIT	W 2–0	7–1–4	Virtue Field (573) Burlington, Vermont
October 19 4:30 p.m.	No. 20	Bryant Bulldogs	W 1–0	8–1–4	Virtue Field (1,129) Burlington, Vermont
October 26 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 16	at UMBC	L 0–1	8–2–4	Retriever Soccer Park (1,129) Baltimore, Maryland
November 1 3:00 p.m.	No. 23	at UMass Lowell	W 2–1	9–2–4	Cushing Field Complex (186) Lowell, Massachusetts
November 5 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	Binghamton	T 1–1	9–2–5	Virtue Field (941) Burlington, Vermont
AEC Tournament
November 13 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 17	vs. (3) UMBC Semifinals	W 2–1 ^2OT	10–2–5	Virtue Field (1,328) Burlington, Vermont
November 17 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 17	vs. (4) Bryant Final	W 2–1	11–2–5	Virtue Field (2,400) Burlington, Vermont
NCAA Tournament
November 21* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	Iona First Round	W 5–0	12–2–5	Virtue Field (2,035) Burlington, Vermont
November 24* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	at (7) No. 18 Hofstra Second Round	W 2–1	13–2–5	Hofstra University Soccer Stadium (1,101) Hempstead, New York
December 1* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	at No. 3 San Diego Third Round	W 1–0 ^OT	14–2–5	Torero Stadium (3,227) San Diego, California
December 7* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	at (2) No. 9 Pittsburgh Quarterfinals	W 2–0	15–2–5	Petersen Sports Complex (1,416) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
December 13* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 17	vs. (3) No. 4 Denver Semifinals	T 1–1 (4–3 pens.)	15–2–6	WakeMed Soccer Park (not reported^[a]) Cary, NC
December 16* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN+	No. 17	vs. (13) No. 8 Marshall Final	W 2–1 ^2OT	16–2–6	WakeMed Soccer Park (6,057) Cary, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Player statistics

Goals

2024 UVM Soccer Goals^[14]
Rank	No.	Po.	Name	Regular Season	AAC Tournament	NCAA Tournament	Total
1	12	FW	Yaniv Bazini	6	2	6	14
2	10	FW	Maximillian Kissel	7	1	3	11
3	18	FW	Marcell Papp	3	1	1	5
4	36	FW	Max Murray	4	0	0	4
5	14	FW	David Ismail	1	0	2	3
6	27	FW	Ryan Zellefrow	1	0	1	2
6	7	MF	Andrew Millar	2	0	0	2
8	22	DF	Sydney Wathuta	1	0	0	1
	28	DF	Zach Barrett	1	0	0	1
	3	DF	Mike Bleeker	1	0	0	1
	6	MF	Connor Thompson	1	0	0	1
	13	MF	Nash Barlow	1	0	0	1
	25	DF	Pieter Bultman	1	0	0	1
	9	MF	Niels Hartman	1	0	0	1
Opponent Own Goal				0	0	0	0
Total				0	0	0	48

Disciplinary record

2024 UVM Soccer Disciplinary record^[14]
Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name	Regular Season			AAC Tournament			NCAA Tournament			Total
Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name
1	5		DF	Adrian Schulze Solano	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
2	25		DF	Pieter Bultman	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	22		FW	Sydney Wathuta	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
	27		FW	Ryan Zellefrow	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
5	3		DF	Mike Bleeker	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	9		MF	Niels Hartman	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	28		DF	Zach Barrett	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	13		MF	Nash Barlow	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	11		DF	Nick Lockermann	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
	14		FW	David Ismail	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
	7		MF	Andrew Millar	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
12	31		DF	Jeremy Tsang	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	0		GK	Lou Liedtka	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	21		DF	Karl Daly	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	10		FW	Maximillian Kissel	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	6		MF	Connor Thompson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	18		FW	Marcell Papp	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	17		DF	Ioannis Vassiliou	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	36		FW	Max Murray	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Team					0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total					25	0	0	5	0	0	5	0	0	35	0	0

Awards and honors

America East Conference
Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Sydney Wathuta	Midfielder of the Year	November 12, 2024	^[15]
Zach Barrett	Defender of the Year	November 12, 2024	^[15]
Sydney Wathuta	All-AAC First Team	November 8, 2024	^[16]
Yaniv Bazini
Zach Barrett
Maximilian Kissel	All-AAC Second Team
Max Murray
Kiklas Herceg
Niklas Herceg	All-AAC Rookie Team
Ryan Zellefrow	All-AAC Rookie Team
Yaniv Bazini	All-AAC Academic Team

NCAA Tournament
Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Maximilian Kissel	All-Tournament Team	December 16, 2024	^[17]
Kiklas Herceg
Yaniv Bazini
Zach Barrett
Marcell Papp
Maximilian Kissel	Tournament OMVP
Niklas Herceg	Tournament DMVP

2025 MLS SuperDraft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position
Sydney Wathuta	Colorado Rapids	1	16	FW
Max Murray	New York City FC	1	17	DF

Source: Burlington Free Press^[18]^[19]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes ( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
United Soccer^[20]	14	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	16	23	17	Not released				1 (4)

Notes

^ As of January 18, 2025, NCAA has yet to release the attendance of this match.

References

^ Mennicke, Jack (August 22, 2024). "WMU men's soccer takes down No. 14 Vermont in season opener". Western Herald. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
^ Manley, Ryan (August 29, 2024). "Cats Record 1-1 Draw at UC Irvine". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
^ "Champs Again! Vermont Claims 7th #AEMSOC Crown". America East. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
^ "Murray scores decisive goal in shootout and Vermont advances to its first men's College Cup final". Associated Press. December 13, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
^ Sterling, Wayne (December 17, 2024). "University of Vermont wins first-ever NCAA Division I national championship". Cable News Network. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
^ Tauber, Rebecca (December 17, 2024). "In dramatic finish, Vermont beats Marshall to win first men's NCAA soccer title in program history". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
^ Dugan, Michael (November 17, 2023). "Catamounts down Rider to advance to second round". WCAX-TV. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
^ Main, Jack (November 20, 2023). "Vermont upsets No. 12 Central Florida in double overtime". WPTZ. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
^ Abrami, Adam (November 25, 2023). "NCAA Tournament: West Virginia's late winner sinks Vermont men's soccer". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "2024 Men's Soccer Roster". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
^ "Ryan Zellefrow". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
^ "2024 Men's Soccer Coaching Staff". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
^ "2024 Men's Soccer Schedule". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
^ ^a ^b "2024 Men's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". UVM Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
^ "New Hampshire & Vermont Claim #AEMSOC Major Awards". America East. November 12, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
^ "Regular Season Champions New Hampshire & Vermont Dominate #AEMSOC All-Conference Selections". America East. November 8, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
^ @ncaasoccer (December 16, 2024). "2024 Men's College Cup All-Tournament Team ⭐️". Retrieved January 16, 2025 – via Instagram.
^ "Two Vermont Green Players Selected In 2025 MLS SuperDraft". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
^ Abrami, Alex. "2 Vermont men's soccer players picked in MLS SuperDraft". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
^ "2024 NCAA DI Mens Rankings". United Soccer Coaches. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[14] As of January 18, 2025, NCAA has yet to release the attendance of this match.

[1] Mennicke, Jack (August 22, 2024). "WMU men's soccer takes down No. 14 Vermont in season opener". Western Herald. Retrieved January 25, 2025.

[2] Manley, Ryan (August 29, 2024). "Cats Record 1-1 Draw at UC Irvine". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[3] "Champs Again! Vermont Claims 7th #AEMSOC Crown". America East. Retrieved January 26, 2025.

[4] "Murray scores decisive goal in shootout and Vermont advances to its first men's College Cup final". Associated Press. December 13, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2025.

[5] Sterling, Wayne (December 17, 2024). "University of Vermont wins first-ever NCAA Division I national championship". Cable News Network. Retrieved January 25, 2025.

[6] Tauber, Rebecca (December 17, 2024). "In dramatic finish, Vermont beats Marshall to win first men's NCAA soccer title in program history". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2025.

[7] Dugan, Michael (November 17, 2023). "Catamounts down Rider to advance to second round". WCAX-TV. Retrieved February 10, 2025.

[8] Main, Jack (November 20, 2023). "Vermont upsets No. 12 Central Florida in double overtime". WPTZ. Retrieved February 10, 2025.

[9] Abrami, Adam (November 25, 2023). "NCAA Tournament: West Virginia's late winner sinks Vermont men's soccer". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved February 10, 2025.

[UVM-Roster-10] "2024 Men's Soccer Roster". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[11] "Ryan Zellefrow". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 20, 2025.

[12] "2024 Men's Soccer Coaching Staff". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[13] "2024 Men's Soccer Schedule". UVM Athletics. Retrieved January 14, 2025.

[2024_UVM_Soccer_Statistics-15] "2024 Men's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". UVM Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2025.

[16] "New Hampshire & Vermont Claim #AEMSOC Major Awards". America East. November 12, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[17] "Regular Season Champions New Hampshire & Vermont Dominate #AEMSOC All-Conference Selections". America East. November 8, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[2024_mvps-18] @ncaasoccer (December 16, 2024). "2024 Men's College Cup All-Tournament Team ⭐️". Retrieved January 16, 2025 – via Instagram.

[19] "Two Vermont Green Players Selected In 2025 MLS SuperDraft". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[20] Abrami, Alex. "2 Vermont men's soccer players picked in MLS SuperDraft". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[21] "2024 NCAA DI Mens Rankings". United Soccer Coaches. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

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[20]

v t e NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship College Cup teams (2020–2029)
2020	Indiana Marshall North Carolina Pitt
2021	Clemson Georgetown Notre Dame Washington
2022	Creighton Indiana Pittsburgh Syracuse
2023	Clemson Notre Dame Oregon State West Virginia
2024	Denver Marshall Ohio State Vermont
Italic denotes national championship (*) denotes results which were vacated