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Thanks to Maximilian Kissel, the Catamounts got it done on Monday night.
Kissell drilled a perfect goal in the extra period to lift Vermont to a 2-1 win over Marshall to officially win the 2024 Men’s College Cup and claim the program’s first ever national championship.
Kissell, after breaking away up the right side of the field, snuck past Marshall’s goalkeeper and drilled a wide-open goal at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, on Monday — which ended the game in the sudden-death period and sparked a massive celebration on the field.
The goal was Vermont’s 16th this season in the 83rd minute or later. It was also Kissel’s sixth winner of the season. The junior out of Wiesbaden, Germany, had 11 goals this season. He scored four winners in the postseason, including one to beat Bryant in the America East final.
“It means every single thing,” Kissel said. “Vermont always has a small school, middle of nowhere, small population, no one believes in us, no one picks us to win. … They always doubt us, but we always come on top. That’s Vermont.”
That game-winning shot was set up after Vermont tied the match up with about 10 minutes left in the second half. Marcell Papp scored from the top of the box there to put Vermont on the board.
Vermont allowed just three goals throughout the entire tournament, one of which came on Monday night. They beat No. 3 Denver on penalty kicks in the semifinals to reach the title game. Marshall, after beating SMU in the quarterfinals, then stunned top-seeded Ohio State in the semifinals with a 1-0 win. The Herd were searching for their second championship in the last five seasons.
With the win, Vermont’s soccer team is now the first team sport to win a national championship at the university. The Catamounts were also the first American East team to ever reach a national championship game in a team sport. Vermont’s skiing program has six championships.