The UVM men’s soccer season came to a close Nov. 18, when the team was defeated by Boston College 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
For the first time in eight years, the team won the America East Championship and moved on to the national playoffs.
Even though they could not top Boston College, the Catamounts finished the year 11-7-3 and were 6-2-2 at home.
After a slow start that saw them lose three out of their first four games, head coach Jesse Cormier and his players began to win.
The Catamounts won against University of Hartford, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and University of New Hampshire during the regular season.
UVM went on to defeat No. 3-seeded UMBC in the semifinals of the America East Championship, before winning the whole tournament against No. 5-seeded Binghamton University.
“Beating UMBC in the playoffs in overtime and then winning the title against Binghamton [were the highlights of the season],” Cormier said.
The conference championship win occurred on Virtue Field, a home game for the Catamounts.
A record crowd of 1,913 fans showed up to Virtue Field to cheer the team on during the final against Binghamton, according to UVM athletics.
“The school spirit was beyond anything I could imagine,” Cormier said.
“The fans and the media coverage were a big piece of our striving for success. The home support [and] the energy on Virtue spurred us on to achieve more,” he said.
Junior forward Brian Wright said he was also very thankful for the fans that came out to support the team this year.
“We truly appreciate all the support that we got from the community of Burlington,” Wright said.
“From the beginning of the season with the rough start, all the way to the end with everyone coming to the first round game against Boston College,” he said. “Even that game felt like a home game with all the people that came out to support us.”
This season, Wright scored a team-leading 10 goals .
To go along with his 10 goals, Wright dished out seven assists, finishing the season with 27 points.
However, he said there is still room for improvement.
“I’m happy that I finally reached double digits in goals, but I felt I could have done better,” Wright said. “I would say I still need to improve on my heading and the left side of my body.”
Cormier was full of praise for the junior forward.
“Brian’s future is very bright,” he said. “His talent, character, and maturity have moved him past many of the players in our league, to being, in my opinion, the best and most dominant player in the league.”
Not returning next year is senior defender Jack Shea, who started in all but one game this season.
“I believe we found the most success this season because we built a strong team culture around hard work,” Shea said. “We were also able to look back on the previous teams and build off their mistakes. We started to find our groove at the perfect time and we were able to maintain it.”
The team he is leaving behind has what it takes to repeat this year’s success, he said.
“They understand what it takes to be successful at this level and will uphold that in the new players,” Shea said.
“With a complete starting attack returning they will have even more chemistry and confidence, which can only lead to one of the most lethal attacks in the conference,” he said. “They will have more success in the future, I’m sure of it.”
