The America East soccer championships were all about Vermont this year — hosted and contested by the Catamounts. Women’s soccer made its first appearance in the final since 2021, while men’s soccer played for another conference title since topping the NCAA in 2024.
America East Women’s Soccer Championship
The University of Maine sat in the No. 4 spot by the Nov. 9 women’s final, underdogs against the No. 2 Cats after their best conference performance in three seasons, with just one loss.
Goals by junior midfielder Emma Warren and senior forward Lauren DeGroot put Vermont ahead of the Blackbears within 20 minutes. Both were products of pinpoint deliveries from afa and quick releases past closing Maine defenders.
Within 10 minutes, senior goalkeeper Kylee Carafoli pushed off a long shot by Maine, landing the ball in a mix of scrambling players for a second successful chance by the Blackbears.
Maine caught up to Vermont just past halftime, with a shot curling out of reach of Carafoli’s dive, tying the game 2-2 for the remainder of regulation. With no goals in overtime, the teams went to a shootout.
Even at two penalties each, DeGroot sent the ball off the spot in the same direction taken by Maine’s keeper. The denial set Maine up to take the lead with its next turn.
Off the bench, sophomore goalkeeper Vanessa Smith saw her attempt knocked away by the opposing goalie, ending the shootout 4-3 in Maine’s favor; though the loss doesn’t discredit a season of wins for Vermont’s women.
From the season’s start in August through the championship, DeGroot shone, scoring a career-high eight goals this season, four of which were game-winners. Among her 65 shots on goal, senior midfielder Sydney Remington also thrived with seven goals and four assists in 2025.
In goal, Carafoli finalized a save percentage of 80% as America East Goalkeeper of the Year.
America East Men’s Soccer Championship
One week after the women’s final, Vermont again took Virtue Field for the men’s conference championship against the No. 2 Bryant University Bulldogs.
Following a slim 2-1 win over Bryant on Oct. 25, the game was a heated one — officials issued seven yellow cards between the two teams.
A free kick three minutes in shook Vermont’s post in a near miss, before redshirt junior midfielder Andrew Millar gave Bryant their first scare on a breakaway blocked by the Bulldogs’ keeper.
A foul by Bryant handed graduate forward Marcell Papp a free kick just outside of the box at 29 minutes. Papp sent the ball into a wall of defenders, bouncing back into Vermont’s possession for a pass to first-year defender Omar Robbana for his first career goal.
Ten minutes later, Papp facilitated a second goal, distracting Bryant defenders from senior forward David Ismail, who brought the score to its resting place at 2-0.
“We have great seniors and upperclassmen, and we have a great core underneath,” head coach Rob Dow said.
Bryant would take eight shots on goal through the end of regulation, forcing four saves by sophomore goalkeeper Niklas Herceg, but couldn’t narrow the difference.
“It felt a little bit different than the first game, regular season, that we played them,” Ismail said. “This time, two goals in the first half just gave us confidence and made them make decisions that they probably wouldn’t do if they weren’t 2-0 down.”
Undefeated, Vermont earned the No. 1 ranking going into the NCAA men’s soccer tournament, sending them straight to the second elimination round.
“A shutout and two goals: I could say this is our best performance of the season, but it’s not going to be our best performance,” Dow said after the conference championship.
Hofstra University travels to Burlington for the 1 p.m. game on Nov. 23, having beaten Syracuse University 2-0 in the first round. A win would put Vermont up against Western Michigan University or Furman University — to be decided in their game at the same time on Sunday.
