Vermont wins first ever Men's College Cup final with OT golden goal
🏆 Vermont wins 2024 Men's College Cup
Vermont is your 2024 Division I men's soccer national champion! The Catamounts make history by claiming their first-ever national title with an OT golden goal from Maximilian Kissel to beat Marshall 2-1.
The last time Marshall was in a national title game (2020), they won in overtime — this time, it was Vermont on the winning side. Both of the Catamount goals tonight came from off-the-bench players, Marcell Papp and Max Kissel. After going down 1-0 in the 67th minute, the Green and Gold battled against heightened physicality, a slew of Marshal shots and the relentless chants from a sea of Herd fans to earn the equalizer in the 80th minute. Five minutes into overtime, the fight was over. Sprinting down the flank, Kissel brought down the long ball out of the back and found himself 1v1 with the keeper, touched around him, and calmly passed the ball into the open net — etching his team into Catamount history.
A golden moment for the Catamounts 🤩 x 🎥ESPN2 /
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer)
This was only the third golden goal victory in a national championship since 1985 and Vermont becomes just the eighth team to win a national titike in its first College Cup.
🫣 Overtime!
Marshall and Vermont are going to overtime. A golden goal will decide the winner of the 2024 Men's College Cup final.
🤯 GOAL VERMONT
The Catamounts equalize in the 81st minute off a wall pass and an expert finish from off-the-bench player Marcell Papp.
VERMONT WITH THE EQUALIZER 😱 x 🎥ESPN2 /
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer)
🦬 GOAL MARSHALL
Marshall breaks the stalemate in the 67th minute with a goal from Tarik Pannholzer. The forward also scored the lone goal in the Herd's 1-0 semifinal win. All three of Pannholzer's goals this season have been in the NCAA tournament.
PANNHOLZER PUTS MARSHALL ON THE BOARD! 🦬 x 🎥ESPN2 /
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer)
🚨 Video Review for potential PK
Officials are checking for a potential handball in the Vermont box.
Update: The original call stands, no handball.
Second half underway
Second half is underway, 45 minutes of regulation to go.
Plenty of action in the first half between these two!
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer)
👔 Halftime: Marshall 0, Vermont 0
🔥 Vermont building momentum
The Catamounts get the best shot on goal so far and have started to find the ball more in the attacking third.
ALEKSA JANJIC IS A BRICK WALL 🧱 x 🎥ESPN2 /
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer)
👀 First fifteen
🚦 Men's College Cup underway
The 2024 Men's College Cup is underway. We are 90 minutes away from crowning a new national champion. Marshall will win its second title or Vermont will lift the trophy for the first time in program history.
View the starting lineups below:
🍿 Previewing the national final
The No. 13-seeded Marshall Thundering Herd meets the unseeded Cinderella sensation from the America East conference, the Vermont Catamounts in a battle for the national trophy. Marshall looks to earn the program's second national title in as many College Cup appearances since claiming the 2020 national championship. On the other hand, Vermont continues its historic season making its first-ever College Cup and becoming the first team from Vermont athletics to compete in a national championship match — Vermont Skiing has a national title but did not compete in a championship game scenario.
So far this tournament, Vermont has only allowed two goals and top-goalscorer Yaniv Bazini has scored in all five contests, tallying a late equalizer in the semifinals against No. 3 Denver to extend the game to OT. The Catamounts went on to win 4-3 in PKs thanks to an expert save by Niklas Herceg. The Herd has conceded three goals this tournament and is coming off an impressive 1-0 win over the No. 1-seed Ohio State in the College Cup semifinals where Marshall outlasted 20 Buckeye shots after taking an early lead.
Both Marshall and Vermont are bolstered by their international-heavy rosters, bringing worldwide playing styles and talent to one pitch. Monday night's contest will be a clash between two teams many doubted and few — outside their devoted fan bases — expected to make a deep run into the 2024 NCAA tournament. Both have exhibited similar styles of play: high-pressing, controlled possession, quick counters and minimal goals allowed. We know each can score against big opponents, but with just one thing left to prove, this matchup will be determined by the backlines, with the strongest walking away with a trophy.
Keep track of all the action here, on krikya18.com
🧐 What the stats say
Let's take a look at how the Catamounts and the Herd line up:
| MARSHALL | CATEGORY | Vermont |
|---|---|---|
| 15-1-7 (4-0-5 Sun Belt) | Record (Conference) | 15-2-6 (America East 4-1-2) |
| 45 | Goals scored | 46 |
| 18 | Goals allowed | 18 |
| 12.0 | Shots per game | 14.7 |
|
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos |
Top scorer | Yaniv Bazini (14 goals) |
🏆 Path to the Men's College Cup Final
Here are the paths each team took to reach the national championship final:
| No. 13 Marshall | Round | Vermont |
|---|---|---|
| Bye | First | Def. Iona, 5-0 |
| Def. Furman, 4-0 | Second | Def. No. 7 Hofstra, 2-1 |
| Def. NC State, 2-1 | Third | Def. San Diego, 1-0 (OT) |
| Def. No. 12 SMU, 3-2 | Quarterfinals | Def. No. 2 Pitt, 2-0 |
| Def. No. 1 Ohio State, 1-0 | Semifinals | Def. No. 3 Denver, 1-1 (PK 4-3) |
📺 How to watch Marshall vs. Vermont
It's officially game day. Two teams. One title. Vermont and Marshall will compete for the 2024 NCAA DI men's soccer national championship in Cary, NC. The Thundering Herd returns to a national final after winning it in 2020 while the Catamounts look to add to a historic season in their first-ever College Cup.
Here's all the information needed to watch the Vermont-Marshall Men's College Cup national championship:
🗓️ Date: Monday, Dec. 16
⏰ Time: 8 p.m. ET
📺 TV: ESPN2
📍Location: WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, NC
📊 Follow: Live scores and stats
We will be live blogging the game here on krikya18.com.