Cat and dog fight
UVM men’s soccer wraps up season with loss to UConn

Nick Babbitt | staff writer

Vermont's Will Haywood battles a Connecticut player in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship second round match on Nov. 28. Photo courtesy of Brian Jenkins

On Nov. 28 the University of Vermont (UVM) men’s soccer team ended its season with a 2-0 loss to the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

This was the first defeat for Vermont since Oct. 13. The loss ended its eight-game unbeaten streak that included seven straight shutouts prior to the NCAA tournament.

Confident end to successful season

The team came back from a 4-9-0 start to win its fourth America East title and get to the second round of the NCAA tournament for just the second time in program history. Assistant coach Gregg Olson says he is proud of the way his team turned the season around.

“We did a lot of self-analysis,” Olson says. “Everybody put their work in. We asked a lot more from the guys. We hit rock bottom. We decided we needed to work harder and get back to the basics.”

Goalkeeper Roger Scully says he shared similar sentiments with Olson on how the team needed to turn its season around.

“We really took a good look at ourselves,” Scully says. “We knew we were better than we were playing. Really it was just a matter of getting our confidence back.”

The Catamounts finished the season with an overall record of 9-10-3 and a 4-2-2 record for league play.

“We committed to making a late season run, it [the season] began slow and finished very strong.” Olson says. “There was disappointment after the loss. Of course there is going to be going into a match with so many highly competitive guys.”

Despite the loss, junior Jordan Crasilneck says he sees the season as a whole a success.

“Our goal was to win the conference,” Crasilneck says. “We did that and got into the second round. It’s definitely a success.”

The path to the NCAA

The Catamounts started it's run to the NCAA tournament with a 1-0 victory over Binghamton in the America East Final conference championship.

They began D-I tournament play against Dartmouth College. An earlier match between the Catamounts and the Big Green during the regular season ended in a 1-0 victory in Dartmouth’s favor. 

The playoff match had a different outcome.  The Catamounts found themselves down 1-0 early in the game on a Dartmouth penalty kick. Connor Tobin later scored the tying goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation on his own penalty kick.

After running out of two full overtimes without a score, the contest went into a penalty kick round. The Catamounts took home the victory after two penalty kick saves by Scully. The victory put the Catamounts into the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second time in the programs eight trips to the tournament.

During the second round match UConn’s Dori Arad headed in a goal off a free kick by Mike Pezza from just outside the penalty box. O’Brian White headed in a cross from Ryan Codiero to score nine minutes into the second half, giving the third-seeded Connecticut a 2-0 win, Wednesday night in front of 2,632 fans at Morrone Stadium.

“They are national championship material,” Olson says about the 19-2-1 UConn team. “They’ve got loads of talent.”

Crasilneck is in agreement with Olson on the talented UConn team.

“They [UConn] are definitely a top program in the nation,” Crasilneck says, “One of the premier soccer schools. It shows us the level that we can play at.”

Promising talent for 2008-2009 season

With the season over the team can finally get some rest, Scully said.

“We’ll be off over winter break,” Scully says. “It’s nice to get some time off, especially because finals start next week.”

While the team may be relaxing for the first time in months, the coaches know it is never too early to start thinking about the upcoming season, Scully says. 

The team is losing four seniors to graduation; Panos Georgiadis, Justin Geibel, Loren Hill and Tyler Hasman.

The four seniors are all part of the starting lineup, but Olson says he believes they have the young talent to maintain the high level of play they achieved this season.

“We are excited about four of our five guys returning to defense,” Olson says. “And our front group will be strong again. We’re looking forward to a developing spring season. Some of those young guys have loads of talent and didn’t reach their full potential during the season.”

While the season may have come to an end for the Catamounts, the work is not done for its coaching staff.

“Recruiting never stops,” Olson says.  “[The success] this season never guarantees success in the future, but it helps with recruiting.  Nationally it really helps. Young talent may consider UVM. It helps us recruit people from other parts of the country.”

According to Scully the team’s next goal is mainly to better themselves for next year.

“Our goal is always to go further than the year before, to make it past the second round,” Scully says.