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With just ten second left, sophomore attacker Connor McNamara scored the game-winning goal to earn a 12-11 Catamount come-from-behind win on March 17 at Virtue Field. The non-conference win over the Sacred Heart Pioneers marked the first victory for the team this season.  

“I’m not sure it was that different than other games this season, other than the final result,” said Vermont coach Ryan Curtis. “I give the guys credit for continuing to battle and grind out a tough win against a pretty dangerous team.”

Despite a 5-2 deficit late in the first quarter, Vermont came back to score six unanswered goals between 2:21 in the first period and the end of the first half to take a 6-5 lead.  

Vermont extended their lead to three in the third period with two quick goals by junior A.J. Masson and first-year Dan Gutberlet. Sacred Heart responded with a goal to cut the lead back to two before the Cats scored another three goals to take an 11-6 lead in the final period.  

The Pioneers rallied to score five straight goals in the fourth to tie up the game with 5:10 remaining. UVM’s defense came up huge when it counted, as sophomore midfielder Derek Braig forced a turnover and Vermont was able to work the clock down to 30 seconds left before calling a timeout.  

Coming out of the timeout, Masson fought through the defense and was able to get the ball to McNamara who fired it past goalie Ryan Hughes of Sacred Heart to break the tie and secure Vermont’s first win of the season.  

McNamara finished the day with a hat trick and nine Catamounts scored goals in the victory. Senior goaltender David Barton stopped 15 shots. 

What Vermont needs now is consistency, “We have yet to string together a complete game. We need to be better in between the lines and play a little smarter,” said Curtis. “AJ Masson is starting to play very well. He had a key groundball that led to the winning goal. We have struggled this year getting the ball up off the ground, and that was a big play at a big time for us.”

With a game against Brown this weekend and the start of America East League play beginning at the end of the month, Coach Curtis feels the team has, “played a very challenging schedule up to this point to prepare us for the conference.” 

 “At the beginning of the year, all of our goals centered on the America East and that hasn’t changed,” Curtis continued. “In my time here, I have never seen the conference so up in the air. All the teams have been good at times and struggled at times. I think this is the first time there isn’t a clear cut favorite and that puts everyone in the mix.”

Vermont stands at 1-6 on the season, while Sacred Heart falls to 2-4. Vermont is back in action on Sat., March 24 at 1 P.M. as they host Brown at Virtue Field.