BURLINGTON – The defending Division I National Champion University of Vermont (UVM) men’s soccer team suffered their first defeat in over a year on Sunday as Hofstra upset the top seeded Catamounts in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Laurie Goddard buried a feed from Daniel Burko seven minutes into overtime to pull off the upset of the tournament with a 3-2 stunner over the Catamounts. Philipp Kuhn gave UVM a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the match and the Catamount defense held Hofstra down before all hell broke loose midway into the second half. Goals by Pablo Hempelmann-Perez and Jan Ziewiec over a two minute span gave the Pride a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute, leaving a shivering sold out crowd at Virtue Field stunned. Rui Aoki breathed life back into the stadium with an equalizing header off a perfect corner kick by Omar Robbana with six minutes left in regulation. The Catamounts appeared to survive Hofstra’s upset bid four minutes later when a penalty kick was awarded to the home team for the potential game-winner, but was overturned by official video review. Goddard crashed a perfect service from Burko in the penalty area in the early minutes of overtime to once again silence the crowd, handing UVM their first home loss in over two years.
Despite being the No. 1 overall seed, the unseeded Pride was a dangerous match-up for the Catamounts. They outlasted Hofstra 2-1 during their Cinderella Run through the NCAA Tournament last fall and escaped with another 2-1 victory over the Pride this past September. The Catamounts were one of five of the top six seeded teams to fall over the weekend in the second round, blowing the tournament wide open. Second seeded Virginia, No. 3 Princeton, No. 5 SMU and sixth seeded Indiana all met the same fate. Fourth seeded Maryland is the top ranked team left in the field after surviving a penalty kick shootout with North Carolina.
UVM’s season came to an end at 14-1-5 in front of the thirteenth consecutive sellout at Virtue Field. The Catamounts captured the University’s first ever Division I National Championship last season as an unranked team in the tournament. Their loss on Sunday snapped a program record 29-match undefeated streak.
Hofstra (14-5) advances to the Sweet 16 for the third time in five years. They take on No. 16 Furman on Sunday for a chance to make their first Elite 8 in program history.
