Eric Scharf, Managing EditorNovember 28, 2022
Eric Scharf
Members of the UVM men’s soccer team celebrate a goal during a 2021 game. The Catamounts will look to advance to the NCAA national tournament semifinals in their quarterfinal match against Syracuse University Dec. 3.
1989 called, and they want their soccer team back.
The UVM men’s soccer team is on its way to the NCAA National Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals for the first time in 33 years after a commanding 3-0 win over the University of California, Los Angeles Nov. 26 at Virtue Field.
The Catamounts hosted the Bruins under the lights for a showdown of the highest importance and walked away with a convincing shutout victory.
With a current 16-3-2 record, the team’s best since the program’s historic 1989 run, the Cats have won their last three tournament games and are en route to a quarterfinal matchup against Syracuse University.
After tying Syracuse 1-1 in the regular season Sept. 2, the Catamounts went on a blistering 11-game winning streak before falling to University of Maryland, Baltimore County in a 2-1 loss Oct. 22, according to the team’s website.
The Cats held the No. 2 conference seed going into the America East tournament but fell short of the championships with a 1-0 semifinal loss to University at Albany Nov. 10. However, UVM was still selected for a spot in the NCAA tournament by the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee.
UVM’s run in the national tournament began with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against Quinnipiac University Nov. 17, and the squad followed it with a shocking come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Southern Methodist University just three days later.
Saturday night’s match against UCLA provided the packed stands of Virtue Field with a display of confidence from the home side.
After a scoreless first half, the Catamounts opened the floodgates in the fifty-sixth minute.
Sophomore forward Yaniv Bazini smashed in a top-drawer strike from outside the 18-yard box, leaving UCLA goalkeeper Nate Crockford standing. Graduate midfielder Yves Borie added a second goal with a no-look volley into the bottom left corner in the seventieth minute.
Fifth-year forward Alex Nagy, a 2022 MLS SuperDraft pick for D.C. United, added an insurance goal for the Cats in the eighty-sixth minute with a tap-in after a save by Crockford landed the ball in Nagy’s path.
UVM’s trip to the quarterfinals is one for the books—Catamount fans haven’t been witness to such a game since the University’s storied 1989 season, where the team went on a 20-game win streak and made it to the national tournament quarterfinals, according to a Nov. 19, 2016 Burlington Free Press article.
UVM ultimately fell 2-1 in overtime in the ‘89 quarterfinal match against Rutgers University.
The Catamounts’ clash against Syracuse will be a competitive rematch, with UVM facing the Orange on the road Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.
(He/him)
Eric Scharf is a senior political science major and French minor and serves as the managing editor at the Vermont Cynic. He started at the…
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