# 2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer team

The 2024 Vermont Catamounts men's soccer team represented the University of Vermont during the 2024 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. They were led by head coach Rob Dow, in his seventh season. They played their home games at Virtue Field. This was the team's 60th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 36th playing in the America East Conference.
Regarded as the program's best season in its history, the Catamounts started the season with a loss to ranked Western Michigan and a draw with UC Irvine. These results saw them fall from their preseason ranking of fourteenth to unranked the following week. Despite a slow start, they followed it up with not losing a game for 11 decisions, going 8-0-3, with conference wins over Bryant and rival Albany. They started conference play with a tie to New Hampshire. They would go on to win their next three conference games before their first conference loss against UMBC on October 26. That match would be the last match that Vermont would lose for the remainder of the season. They would follow that with a win and a draw to close out the regular season with a 9–2–5 overall record and a 4–1–2 AAC record. The Catamounts were the second overall seed in the AAC tournament. They defeated third seed UMBC in the Semi-Finals and fourth seed Bryant in the Finals where Vermont won their seventh AAC tournament title.
The tournament victory earned Vermont the AAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Vermont, however, were not ranked. Despite this, the Catamounts went on a cinderella run, defeating Iona in the first round, seventh seed Hofstra in the second round, San Diego in the third round, and second seed Pittsburgh in the Quarterfinals to reach the College Cup. A victory over third seed Denver saw them reach the national title match against Marshall. Vermont would go on to defeat Marshall in overtime and win the national title 2–1. The national title was the first in program history as well as the first NCAA team championship in school history.

## Background

The Catamounts finished the season 13–6–2 overall and 4–3–0 in AAC play to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Despite being the fourth overall seed in the AAC Tournament, they were defeated by NJIT in the Quarterfinals. They were given a bid to the NCAA Tournament and were unranked. However, they defeated Rider in the first round, upset twelfth seed UCF in the second round, before losing to fifth seed West Virginia in the third round.

## Transfers
### Players leaving

Note: This column lists players who left the program before the 2024 season. It does not include those who departed before the 2023-24 season. Only players who exited during the offseason leading up to the 2024 season or just before it began are included here.
2024 transfers from the Vermont Catamounts :
| No. | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| 2 | Daniel Pacella | Midfielder | 5′ 10″ | 170 | Senior | Montreal, Quebec (CAN) | Transferred to San Diego State |
| 35 | Jacob Vitale | Midfielder | 5′ 9″ | 175 | Senior | Rochester, New York (USA) | Transferred to Fairfield |
| 6 | Jake Ashford | Defender | 6′ 2″ | 165 | Senior | Shawnee, Kansas (USA) | Graduated |
| 17 | Ryan Combe | Midfielder | 5′ 11″ | 145 | Senior | York, Maine (USA) | Graduated |
| 14 | Noe Coutino | Left Winger | 5′ 11″ | 161 | Sophomore | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico (MEX) | Left program |
| 13 | Carter Johnson | Midfielder | 5′ 11″ | 166 | Senior | Sandy, Utah (USA) | Graduated |

### Players arriving

2024 transfers to the Vermont Catamounts :
| No. | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| 0 | Lou Liedtka | Goalkeeper | 6′ 0″ | 175 | Graduate Student | Wyncote, Pennsylvania | University of Davidson |
| 2 | Nathan Simeon | Defender | 5′ 11″ | 175 | Graduate Student | Montreal, Quebec | University of San Francisco |
| 3 | Mike Bleeker | Defender | 6′ 0″ | 190 | Graduate Student | Wayne, New Jersey | American University |
| 9 | Maximilian Kissel | Forward | 6′ 0″ | 150 | Junior | Wiesbaden, Germany | University of Bridgeport |
| 14 | Ethan Czaporowski | Forward | 5′ 8″ | 160 | Sophomore | Belchertown, Massachusetts | Virginia Tech University |

#### Recruiting class

2024 Vermont Catamounts Incoming Transfers :
| Nat. | Name | Pos. | Hometown | High School | TDS Rating |
| USA | Ryan Zellefrow | Forward | Berwyn, Pennsylvania | Conestoga High School | |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of January 21, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
2024 Vermont Catamounts roster :
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Age | Committed | Previous club |
| 0 | Lou Liedtka | United States | GK | 23 | 2024 | University of Davidson (USA) |
| 1 | Niklas Herceg | Germany | GK | 21 | 2024 | VfL 08 Vichttal (GER) |
| 2 | Nathan Simeon | Canada | DF | 25 | 2024 | University of San Francisco (USA) |
| 3 | Mike Bleeker | United States | DF | – | 2024 | American University (USA) |
| 4 | Cole Richardson | United States | DF | – | 2021 | – |
| 5 | Adrian Schulze Solano | Germany | DF | 25 | 2021 | FSV Frankfurt (GER) |
| 6 | Connor Thompson | United States | MF | – | 2021 | – |
| 5 | Andrew Millar | United States | MF | – | 2022 | – |
| 9 | Niels Hartman | Gibraltar | MF | 24 | 2023 | Loughborough University (UK) |
| 10 | Maximilian Kissel | Germany | FW | 22 | 2024 | University of Bridgeport (USA) |
| 11 | Nick Lockermann | Germany | DF | 22 | 2023 | – |
| 12 | Yaniv Bazini | Israel | FW | 25 | 2022 | NC State University (USA) |
| 13 | Nash Barlow | United States | MF | – | 2023 | – |
| 14 | David Ismail | Germany | FW | 22 | 2024 | SpVgg Bayreuth (GER) |
| 15 | Ethan Czaporowski | Germany | FW | – | 2024 | Virginia Tech University (USA) |
| 16 | Gianluca Armellino | United States | FW | 20 | 2023 | Manhattan SC (USA) |
| 17 | Ioannis Vassiliou | Germany | DF | 23 | 2024 | FC Eddersheim (GER) |
| 18 | Marcell Papp | Hungary | FW | 24 | 2024 | Diósgyőri VTK (HUN) |
| 19 | Toby Grant | United States | DF | – | 2024 | – |
| 21 | Karl Daly | United States | DF | – | 2022 | – |
| 22 | Sydney Wathuta | Canada | FW | 20 | 2023 | Vermont Green FC (USA) |
| 24 | TJ Liquori | United States | MF | – | 2023 | – |
| 25 | Pieter Bultman | United States | DF | – | 2023 | – |
| 27 | Ryan Zellefrow | United States | FW | 18 | 2024 | – |
| 28 | Zach Barrett | United States | DF | 23 | 2020 | FC Motown (USA) |
| 31 | Jeremy Tsang | Hong Kong | DF | 19 | 2023 | Black Rock FC (USA) |
| 36 | Max Murray | United States | FW | 22 | 2020 | FC Motown (USA) |
| 99 | Mitchell Ringman | United States | GK | – | 2024 | – |

## Coaching staff

Technical staff :
| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Head coach | Rob Dow | Canada |
| Assistant coach | Rory Twomey | United States |
| Associate head coach | Brad Cole | United States |
| Director of Operations | Mack Walton | United States |
| Athletic Director | Jeff Schulman | United States |

## Schedule

Source: UVM
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 22* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 14 | at No. 12 West Michigan | L 1–3 | 0–1–0 | WMU Soccer Complex (410) Kalamazoo, Michigan |
| August 29* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Irvine | T 1–1 | 0–1–1 | Anteater Stadium (361) Irvine, California |
| September 2* 7:00 p.m. | | at San Diego | W 1–0 | 1–1–1 | SDSU Sports Deck (313) San Diego, California |
| September 7* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | American | T 1–1 | 1–1–2 | Virtue Field (795) Burlington, Vermont |
| September 10* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Lehigh | W 3–2 | 2–1–2 | Ulrich Sports Complex (230) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| September 14* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fairfield | W 5–0 | 3–1–2 | Virtue Field (726) Burlington, Vermont |
| September 21* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Harvard | W 5–0 | 4–1–2 | Virtue Field (1,310) Burlington, Vermont |
| September 28 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | New Hampshire | T 1–1 | 4–1–3 | Virtue Field (1,989) Burlington, Vermont |
| October 1 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UMass | T 2–2 | 4–1–4 | Virtue Field (611) Burlington, Vermont |
| October 5 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UAlbany | W 4–1 | 5–1–4 | Bob Ford Field (1,143) Albany, New York |
| October 8 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UConn | W 1–0 | 6–1–4 | Virtue Field (667) Burlington, Vermont |
| October 13 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | NJIT | W 2–0 | 7–1–4 | Virtue Field (573) Burlington, Vermont |
| October 19 4:30 p.m. | No. 20 | Bryant Bulldogs | W 1–0 | 8–1–4 | Virtue Field (1,129) Burlington, Vermont |
| October 26 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 16 | at UMBC | L 0–1 | 8–2–4 | Retriever Soccer Park (1,129) Baltimore, Maryland |
| November 1 3:00 p.m. | No. 23 | at UMass Lowell | W 2–1 | 9–2–4 | Cushing Field Complex (186) Lowell, Massachusetts |
| November 5 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | Binghamton | T 1–1 | 9–2–5 | Virtue Field (941) Burlington, Vermont |
| AEC Tournament ||||||
| November 13 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 17 | vs. (3) UMBC Semifinals | W 2–1 $^{2OT}$ | 10–2–5 | Virtue Field (1,328) Burlington, Vermont |
| November 17 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 17 | vs. (4) Bryant Final | W 2–1 | 11–2–5 | Virtue Field (2,400) Burlington, Vermont |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 21* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | Iona First Round | W 5–0 | 12–2–5 | Virtue Field (2,035) Burlington, Vermont |
| November 24* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | at (7) No. 18 Hofstra Second Round | W 2–1 | 13–2–5 | Hofstra University Soccer Stadium (1,101) Hempstead, New York |
| December 1* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | at No. 3 San Diego Third Round | W 1–0 $^{OT}$ | 14–2–5 | Torero Stadium (3,227) San Diego, California |
| December 7* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | at (2) No. 9 Pittsburgh Quarterfinals | W 2–0 | 15–2–5 | Petersen Sports Complex (1,416) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| December 13* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 17 | vs. (3) No. 4 Denver Semifinals | T 1–1 (4–3 pens.) | 15–2–6 | WakeMed Soccer Park (not reported) Cary, NC |
| December 16* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN+ | No. 17 | vs. (13) No. 8 Marshall Final | W 2–1 $^{2OT}$ | 16–2–6 | WakeMed Soccer Park (6,057) Cary, North Carolina |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Player statistics
### Goals

2024 UVM Soccer Goals :
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Po. | Name | Regular Season | AAC Tournament | NCAA Tournament | Total |
| 1 | 12 | | FW | Yaniv Bazini | 6 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| 2 | 10 | | FW | Maximillian Kissel | 7 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | 18 | | FW | Marcell Papp | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 36 | | FW | Max Murray | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 14 | | FW | David Ismail | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 27 | | FW | Ryan Zellefrow | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | | MF | Andrew Millar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 22 | | DF | Sydney Wathuta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 28 | | DF | Zach Barrett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 3 | | DF | Mike Bleeker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 6 | | MF | Connor Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 13 | | MF | Nash Barlow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 25 | | DF | Pieter Bultman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 9 | | MF | Niels Hartman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Opponent Own Goal | Opponent Own Goal | Opponent Own Goal | Opponent Own Goal | Opponent Own Goal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |

### Disciplinary record

2024 UVM Soccer Disciplinary record :
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Po. | Name | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | AAC Tournament | AAC Tournament | AAC Tournament | NCAA Tournament | NCAA Tournament | NCAA Tournament | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 5 | | DF | Adrian Schulze Solano | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 25 | | DF | Pieter Bultman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 22 | | FW | Sydney Wathuta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 27 | | FW | Ryan Zellefrow | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | | DF | Mike Bleeker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | | MF | Niels Hartman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 28 | | DF | Zach Barrett | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 13 | | MF | Nash Barlow | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 11 | | DF | Nick Lockermann | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 14 | | FW | David Ismail | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 7 | | MF | Andrew Millar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 31 | | DF | Jeremy Tsang | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 0 | | GK | Lou Liedtka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 21 | | DF | Karl Daly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 10 | | FW | Maximillian Kissel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 6 | | MF | Connor Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 18 | | FW | Marcell Papp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 17 | | DF | Ioannis Vassiliou | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 36 | | FW | Max Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | Team | Team | Team | Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 25 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

America East Conference :
| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Sydney Wathuta | Midfielder of the Year | November 12, 2024 |
| Zach Barrett | Defender of the Year | November 12, 2024 |
| Sydney Wathuta | All-AAC First Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Yaniv Bazini | All-AAC First Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Zach Barrett | All-AAC First Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Maximilian Kissel | All-AAC Second Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Max Murray | All-AAC Second Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Kiklas Herceg | All-AAC Second Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Niklas Herceg | All-AAC Rookie Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Ryan Zellefrow | All-AAC Rookie Team | November 8, 2024 |
| Yaniv Bazini | All-AAC Academic Team | November 8, 2024 |
NCAA Tournament :
| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Maximilian Kissel | All-Tournament Team | December 16, 2024 |
| Kiklas Herceg | All-Tournament Team | December 16, 2024 |
| Yaniv Bazini | All-Tournament Team | December 16, 2024 |
| Zach Barrett | All-Tournament Team | December 16, 2024 |
| Marcell Papp | All-Tournament Team | December 16, 2024 |
| Maximilian Kissel | Tournament OMVP | December 16, 2024 |
| Niklas Herceg | Tournament DMVP | December 16, 2024 |

## 2025 MLS SuperDraft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Sydney Wathuta | Colorado Rapids | 1 | 16 | FW |
| Max Murray | New York City FC | 1 | 17 | DF |
Source: Burlington Free Press

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 14 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 16 | 23 | 17 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 1 (4) |