Thanks to Maximilian Kissel, the Catamounts got it done on Monday night.
Kissell scored a perfect goal in the extra period to lift Vermont to a 2-1 victory over Marshall, officially winning the 2024 Men’s College Cup and claiming the program’s first-ever national championship.
Kissell, after breaking free from the right side of the field, sneaked past Marshall’s goalkeeper and scored a wide-open goal Monday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina — sending the game into sudden death period and a big party on the field.
The goal was Vermont’s 16th this season in the 83rd minute or later. It was also Kissel’s sixth winner of the season. The junior from Wiesbaden, Germany, scored eleven goals this season. He scored four winners in the postseason, including one to beat Bryant in the America East final.
“It means everything,” Kissel said. “Vermont always has a small school, in the middle of nowhere, a small population, no one believes in us, no one picks us to win… They always doubt us, but we always come out on top. That’s Vermont.”
That game-winning shot came after Vermont tied the game with about 10 minutes left in the second half. Marcell Papp scored there from the top of the box to put Vermont on the board.
Vermont allowed just three goals in the entire tournament, one of which came Monday night. They defeated No. 3 Denver on penalties in the semifinals to reach the title game. Marshall, after beating SMU in the quarterfinals, then stunned top-seeded Ohio State in the semifinals with a 1-0 victory. The Herd was looking for their second championship in the past five seasons.
With the win, the Vermont football team now becomes the first team sport to win a national championship in college. The Catamounts were also the first American East team to ever reach a national championship game in a team sport. Vermont’s ski program has six championships.
