Top-Ranked Catamounts Stunned at Virtue Field, UCONN and Bryant Advance
From the snowy Green Mountains to Storrs, Connecticut, Sunday was a busy day for New England College Soccer
The second round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Soccer National Tournament kicked off on Sunday, with three New England teams hosting games. The three matches featured ten goals, a buzzer-beating strike, and one major upset.
#1 Vermont Shocked by Hofstra
The Vermont Catamounts entered Sunday’s contest as the number one ranked team in the country, fresh off an America East Championship victory over Bryant that capped off an undefeated regular season. But against the visiting Hofstra Pride, the defending national champions were stunned in a 3-2 overtime loss that brought their season to an early end.
The Pride were a familiar opponent for head coach Rob Dow’s Catamounts. Back on September 16, Hofstra made the journey up to Burlington, losing a hard-fought match 2-1 after Vermont’s Niels Hartman scored an eighty fourth minute winner. This time around in the national tournament though, things were different.
Snowflakes came down consistently throughout the 1:00 pm kickoff, creating a classic Vermont playoff soccer atmosphere. UVM opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a Philipp Kuhn header. But then about 50 minutes of play later, Hofstra flipped the game on its head. Back to back diving headers led to the visitors getting on the board with almost 25 minutes to go. And then just two minutes later, Jan Ziewiec outstretched his right leg to flick one past Cats goalkeeper Niklas Herceg. The Pride had scored two fantastic goals in just two minutes, taking control of the game.
As they have done so many times this season, the Cardiac Cats found a goal to get themselves back into the game. Rui Aoki nodded home a perfectly placed corner kick from Omar Robbana in the eighty fourth minute to send the game into overtime.
But just six minutes into the extra period of soccer, Vermont’s luck ran out. Hofstra’s Daniel Burko led a counter attack down the left flank, taking the ball all the way down to the byline before squaring it to the penalty spot where Laurie Goddard blasted a one time finish into the roof of the net to end Vermont’s season.
The striking duo of Burko and Goddard has been lethal all season for Hofstra. In their 2-0 victory over Syracuse in the first round of the tournament back on Thursday, it was Goddard and Burko’s goals that pushed the Pride into the next round. Goddard’s goal in Burlington was the 25th score between him and Burko this season.
In his 37th and final season as head coach of the Pride, Richard Nuttall’s team will keep playing, advancing to face #16 Furman next weekend. On the other side, Rob Dow’s season-long hopes of back to back championship winning seasons have suddenly vanished. Vermont’s head coach will look to hold his team to a higher standard next season in hopes of getting back to the College Cup.
“As we turn the page to ‘26, its higher expectations,” said Dow after Sunday’s loss.
#13 UCONN Takes Down Cornell 3-1
In Connecticut, UCONN was able to take care of business, beating a tricky Cornell team 3-1 in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018.
The Huskies started the season on a nine game unbeaten run, taking down two tournament teams in Syracuse and Akron along the way before a heavy defeat to Bryant. In last week’s Big East Tournament, Connecticut once again got the better of the Akron Zips, ultimately falling to Georgetown in the conference championship.
The Big Red arrived in Connecticut after picking up a comfortable 4-0 win against Lafayette in the first round of the national tournament on Thursday. After grabbing a goal on Thursday in the big win, Cornell’s Connor Miller came through once again for the Big Red to open the scoring against UCONN in the 37th minute. But from that point on, UCONN’s own star took control of the game.
Since coming over from San Diego State in the fall, Austin Brummett has been nothing short of fantastic for the Huskies. In the closing moments of Sunday’s first half, the senior striker delivered his biggest contributions in the northeast to date.
In the 43rd minute, Brummet scored a diving header from point blank range to equalize for the Huskies. Then in the final seconds of the first half, less than three minutes later, the striker did his best impression of a March Madness buzzer beater. With just one second left on the clock, Brummet struck a sweet half volley from inside the box. Cornell’s goalkeeper mishandled the shot, and it snuck by for a buzzer-beating goal that gave UCONN a huge lead heading into the half.
After Brummet’s brilliance, the Huskies never looked back. Alex Taupay scored his first career goal in the 78th minute, a header that sealed the deal for UCONN.
Now, just as they did in their last tournament run back in 2018, the Huskies hit the road to take on a Big Ten powerhouse. #4 Maryland awaits UCONN next Saturday in College Park. The Terrapins are the highest seed remaining in the tournament after the top three ranked teams all suffered major upsets Sunday.
#11 Bryant Sneaks by Seton Hall
Bryant has been a major player in the college soccer landscape all season. Back in October, the Bulldogs were ranked as the second best team in the entire country, the highest ranking in program history. Their only two losses of the year so far have both come to Vermont.
Sunday, the Bulldogs kept their campaign going with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the visiting Seton Hall Pirates. The win was the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
It was the Bulldogs’ own Mamadi Jiana who created the game’s breakthrough moment in the 57th minute. The graduate winger who spent his summer as a key member of the Western Mass Pioneers delivered a perfectly placed ball into the box for Muslim Umar. The senior forward scored his first career Bryant goal at the perfect time, sending the Bulldogs into the next round.
The Pirates did their best to hang around with the America East runner ups, keeping the game close throughout the entire ninety minutes. But Bryant goalkeeper Enzo Carvalho put up another confident performance, claiming some crucial crosses and making two big stops to secure his ninth clean sheet of the season.
After #6 Indiana was upset by Saint Louis, the Bulldogs are set to host next weekend’s third round matchup against the Billikens. Beirne Stadium is sure to be bumping as Bryant continues their historic tournament run.
It won’t be an easy matchup against Saint Louis, the A-10 champions who haven’t lost since September. But a win would be enough to push Bryant all the way into the national quarterfinals, just one step away from the College Cup in Cary, North Carolina. The winner of next Sunday’s game awaits the winner of #14 Akron versus Duke.