UVM Soccer Season ends with loss but is still a HUGE success!

NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, Second Round:
#3 Connecticut 2, Vermont 0
STORRS, Conn. -- Goals by Dori Arad and O'Brian White gave third-seeded Connecticut a 2-0 win over Vermont in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Wednesday night in front of 2,632 fans at Morrone Stadium. The defeat ends the Catamounts extraordinary late season run as UVM bounced back from a 4-9-0 start to capture its fourth America East title and reach the second round of the tourney for the second time in the program's eighth trip to the NCAAs.

"I am extremely proud of this team especially the way they fought back this year," said Vermont coach Jesse Cormier. "We were down near the bottom of the barrel and came all the way back to this point. The journey they took persevering and battling adversity the way they did is something these guys will take with them the rest of their lives."

The defeat was the first for Vermont (9-10-3) since October 13 and stopped its eight-game unbeaten streak that included seven straight shutouts prior to the NCAA tourney.

UVM was in an immediate hole as a foul gave the Huskies a free kick just outside the penalty area. Arad headed Mike Pezza's well-placed serve past a diving Roger Scully (East Lyme, Conn.) just 41 seconds into the contest for the early 1-0 advantage. It was the second straight game in the NCAAs the Catamounts allowed a goal in the first minute.

"Going down a goal that early against a team like UConn is very tough to come back against," said Cormier. "Give credit to them- UConn showed us what the next step this program needs to take."

Vermont battled back and played the Big East Champion Huskies even the remainder of the half with UConn holding a slim 3-2 edge in shots. In the ninth minute, Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore.) created a great opportunity to tie with a long run down the right side. He cut to the middle and UConn keeper Josh Ford dove to block his low blast. Tyler Hasman (Portland, Ore.) could not get a piece of the rebound before it was cleared by the Huskies back line.

Connecticut (19-2-1) closed the scoring nine minutes after halftime as White, the nation's leading goal scorer, leaped high to nod in a goal line cross from Ryan Cordiero for his 20th of the season.

UConn had nine shots for the game compared to four for the Catamounts. Scully and Ford each finished with three saves. The Huskies move on to the third round and will host Big East rival South Florida.

It was the final game for Vermont's four seniors, Hasman, Justin Geibel (Boxford,Mass.), Panos Georgiadis (Morrisville, Vt.), and Loren Hill (Eugene, Ore.), who closed out their collegiate careers with the America East Championship and the trip to the second round of the NCAAs.