Catamounts edge out Denver in NCAA semifinals

Catamounts edge out Denver in NCAA semifinals

CARY, N.C. – Vermont football will play for a national championship. Vermont Soccer will play for a national championship.

For the Catamounts, it’s a sentence you have to write twice to believe.

Yaniv Bazini saved Vermont’s season in the final minutes of regulation time, and then the Catamounts were cool customers in the shootout, earning a 4-3 victory after a 1-1 draw in regulation time and both overtime periods .

Bazini, Zach Barrett, Max Murray and Maximilian Kissel missed their chances in the shootout, while Denver’s Trevor Wright hit the crossbar in the fifth to end the game.

Vermont players react after defeating Denver in a shootout on Dec. 13, 2024, at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The Catamounts (15-2-6) will face No. 13 seed Marshall (15-1-7) in the national title game on Monday at WakeMed Soccer Park. Game time is 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

“It’s a great feeling. The hard work and dedication that some of our guys have put in over the last four, five years to finally see it all come together – that’s really special,” said Murray, a fifth-grader. “But the most important thing is that we still have a game to play.”

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