The University of Vermont wins the first-ever NCAA Division I national championship

The University of Vermont wins the first-ever NCAA Division I national championship



CNN

The University of Vermont won its first NCAA Division I national championship in a team sport in dramatic fashion on Monday.

The unseeded Catamounts upset No. 13 Marshall University 2-1 in overtime in men’s soccer at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

Vermont trailed 1-0 after Marshall senior forward Tarik Pannholzer scored in the 67th minute. But the Catamounts showed their fighting spirit.

Striker Marcell Papp equalized for the underdogs in the 81st minute as the game eventually went into extra time. In overtime, Vermont forward Maximilian Kissel came free with a long ball and scored the game-winning goal.

“This is the place I wanted to be. This is the place to win the national championship. This is the best team in this country. I’m just glad we were able to prove it,” Kissel said after the game. “This isn’t Cinderella. This is not an outsider. That’s not luck. It is will. It’s about skill and…talent.”

Both the thundering flock and Catamounts knocked out two of the tournament favorites in the semi-finals and reached the cup final.

Marshall defeated No. 1 Ohio State 1-0, while Vermont came from behind to beat No. 3 Denver in a shootout.

Vermont also defeated No. 2 Pittsburgh 2-0 in the quarterfinals, becoming the third team to oust two top-four seeds in the same tournament in the last decade.

“We are the strongest team,” Vermont head coach Rob Dow said. “To recover, the heart cats, we did it. … It’s been really hard for everyone, but the best things in life are also the hardest things.”

Vermont, competing in a team sport national championship game for the first time, won individual national titles in men’s and women’s skiing.

The Thundering Herd were seeking their second title in the last five years.

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