The mantra around Vermont’s men’s soccer team during its incredible and still-alive NCAA Tournament run has been, “Underdogs? Nope, just dogs.”
Well, cats, technically. But give the Catamounts a chance late, and they’ll bury you like a bone. In a 1-1 (4-3 PKs) loss, the University of Denver Pioneers’ chase for a title ended just before the peak.
In another world, the Pioneers ran away with the national semifinal. Just ask senior forward Oje Ofunrein, who missed three glancing headers by a total of approximately 10 inches. Or Trevor Wright, who had a flicked-on header of his own hit the crossbar in the 6th minute.
If not for a player standing in the sightline of referee Sorin Stoica during a corner kick, a clear and obvious handball in the box upon replay may have put DU ahead in the 50th minute.
Then midfielder Sam Bassett’s 78th-minute stunner may have been icing on the cake: A cross-turned-shot from 25 yards and an incredible angle which tucked into the side-netting on the opposite side of goal.
Being up a goal with just a handful of minutes to go is never a guarantee. In the 84th minute, Vermont capitalized with its only shot on goal — DU had six — via a chested touch and nearly point-blank finish from redshirt senior Yaniv Bazini.
Both teams survived the two 10-minute slugfests that followed. Then Wright was denied by the crossbar again in penalties and senior captain Ben Smith had his shot saved by Niklas Herceg. Vermont went perfect from the spot.
After beating San Diego in overtime in the round of 16, jumping on two mistakes over No. 2 Pittsburgh and besting the Pioneers in penalties, Vermont will face the winner of No. 1 Ohio State and No. 13 Marshall.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.