Vermont
Bazini’s OT winner sends Vermont soccer to America East championship game
America East semifinal soccer: Bazini Vermont overtime winner
Yaniv Bazini talks with reporters after scoring the overtime winner in Vermont’s 2-1, comeback win over UMBC in Wednesday’s America East semifinals.
Vermont men’s soccer solved UMBC’s stingy defense in the knick of time. The Catamounts then solved their recent conference tournament woes.
Vermont’s reward? A chance to claim the America East championship on home turf and reach the NCAA Tournament on its own terms.
Yaniv Bazini scored a late equalizer and then delivered a dazzling walk-off winner in double overtime as the No. 2-seeded Catamounts rallied past No. 3 UMBC for a 2-1 victory in front of 1,328 at Virtue Field during Wednesday’s league semifinals.
“What a player Yaniv is. He showed up. He’s a big-game player,” UVM’s eighth-year coach Rob Dow said.
Vermont, which racked up five NCAA Tournament wins over the last two seasons despite no victories in its own conference playoffs over that span, will host the America East championship game vs. No. 4 Bryant on Sunday afternoon.
The Catamounts (10-2-5) and the Bryant Bulldogs (10-5-4), who knocked off No. 1 New Hampshire in a penalty shootout Wednesday, will square off at 1 p.m. at Virtue Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Trailing 1-0 at the break following Loc San’s finish in the 43rd minute, Vermont, of course, found the tying tally late in regulation: Bazini’s goal with less than 14 minutes to go was the team’s 14th in the 75th minute or later this season. To level the contest, Zach Barrett lifted a ball to the top of the 18 for Max Murray, who nodded toward goal for Bazini to half-volley with a chip over UMBC goalie Emigdio Lopez (nine saves).
It was the first time UMBC (8-7-4) conceded a goal in over 470 minutes.
“These are the guys that we have to go to in this time of the year,” Dow said of Barrett, Murray and Bazini. “We stayed to it and we stuck to the game plan, more guys stepped up off the bench.”
Vermont, ranked 17th in the country, finished with decided edges in shots (23-6), corners (12-0) and fouls (25-16). But the Catamounts required more late magic to avoid a penalty shootout and potentially find themselves hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in the event of a loss.
“We were focusing on this semifinal game only. We’ve been playing with that type of pressure all season long,” Dow said. “That builds a team when we keep winning or we keep getting important results. So when we come into these important games, we are strong.
“It’s desire over desperation, desire to win a championship.”
Bazini’s winner arrived in the 106th minute. David Ismail played a ground pass into the box for Bazini. With his back to the goal, Bazini deftly turned in a flash to create space between two UMBC defenders before poking the ball past Lopez for the senior forward’s 25th career goal as a Catamount.
“The moment we ended our last game, we knew this was the most important (game). It’s do or die,” Bazini said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment ever since. Now we have one more.”
The Catamounts will chase their first America East tournament title since 2021 and 14th appearance overall at the NCAA Tournament. They have been to the NCAAs in each of the last three years, reaching the quarterfinals in 2022 and the Round of 16 last fall.
Catamounts reap America East Conference major awards
Senior Zach Barrett was named the defender of the year, sophomore Sydney Wathuta nabbed the top midfielder honor and the Vermont coaching staff was feted, the America East Conference announced Tuesday for its major awards.
Barrett anchored a Catamount defense that conceded a league-low five goals during conference play. Barrett is the third Catamount and first since Connor Tobin in 2008 to pick up the defender award.
Wathuta is the first player in program history to be named the league’s top midfielder. Wathuta leads America East and is third nationally with 11 assists.
UVM bench boss Rob Dow and his assistant coaches were selected as the staff of the year. Vermont earned a share of the conference’s regular-season crown for the first time since 2019. Dow is assisted by Brad Cole, Rory Twomey, Brendan Pulley and Mack Walton.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
Vermont
Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes
Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14
Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.
Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)
Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.
Key Stats
- Grace Cincebox recorded a total of 14 saves with 13 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage.
- Ravan Marsell led the Great Danes with two points on one goal and one assist.
- Four different UAlbany players scored in the contest.
- Reggie Williams was the team’s leader with three ground balls.
- Delilah Mile caused a team high three turnovers.
How It Happened
- The Catamounts came out of the gates hard and heavy, scoring all three goals between both sides in the first quarter.
- Vermont would take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter before Amanda Williamson found the back of the net on a women-down goal to put the Great Danes on the board and make it 8-1.
- The Great Danes would allow one more goal in the first half to trail 9-1 after 30-minutes of play.
- Grace Cincebox would enter the half with 10 saves.
- Riley Forthofer started the Great Danes off in the second half to make it a 9-2 game, before Vermont put up three more goals to take a 12-2 lead entering the final quarter of play.
- Mya Carroll and Ravan Marsell both scored on back-to-back free-position goals to make it a 12-4 game.
- The Catamounts finished the game with two more goals to take the win 14-4.
Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.
Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.
Vermont
Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list
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Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.
Plus, it has another within the top 15.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.
The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.
To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.
Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.
South Burlington is No. 4 happiest city, Burlington is No. 11
South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15
Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.
Happiest cities in the US, per WalletHub
Here are the 25 happiest cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- Fremont, California – 74.09
- Bismarck, North Dakota – 73.11
- Scottsdale, Arizona – 71.36
- South Burlington, Vermont – 70.15
- Fargo, North Dakota – 69.36
- Overland Park, Kansas – 68.45
- Charleston, South Carolina – 68.44
- Irvine, California – 67.99
- Gilbert, Arizona – 67.96
- San Jose, California – 67.79
- Burlington, Vermont – 67.54
- Madison, Wisconsin – 66.35
- Columbia, Maryland – 66.28
- Chandler, Arizona – 65.69
- Seattle, Washington – 65.62
- Plano, Texas – 65.34
- San Francisco, California – 64.99
- Lincoln, Nebraska – 64.90
- Portland, Maine – 64.59
- Tempe, Arizona – 64.30
- San Diego, California – 64.30
- Raleigh, North Carolina – 63.47
- Peoria, Arizona – 63.38
- Durham, North Carolina – 62.84
- Huntington Beach, California – 62.80
Least happy cities in the US, per WalletHub
Here are the 25 least happy cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- Detroit, Michigan (#182 overall) – 29.55
- Memphis, Tennessee (#181 overall) – 34.39
- Shreveport, Louisiana (#180 overall) – 34.93
- Cleveland, Ohio (#179 overall) – 36.50
- Huntington, West Virginia (#178 overall) – 37.20
- Toledo, Ohio (#177 overall) – 37.21
- Augusta, Georgia (#176 overall) – 38.24
- Fort Smith, Arkansas (#175 overall) – 38.66
- Dover, Delaware (#174 overall) – 39.08
- Akron, Ohio (#173 overall) – 40.11
- Baltimore, Maryland (#172 overall) – 40.28
- Birmingham, Alabama (#171 overall) – 40.37
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana (#170 overall) – 40.47
- Columbus, Georgia (#169 overall) – 40.61
- Montgomery, Alabama (#168 overall) – 41.35
- Gulfport, Mississippi (#167 overall) – 41.65
- Charleston, West Virginia (#166 overall) – 42.18
- Jackson, Mississippi (#165 overall) – 42.60
- St. Louis, Missouri (#164 overall) – 43.53
- Knoxville, Tennessee (#163 overall) – 44.04
- Wilmington, Delaware (#162 overall) – 44.34
- Little Rock, Arkansas (#161 overall) – 44.48
- Mobile, Alabama (#160 overall) – 44.85
- New Orleans, Louisiana (#159 overall) – 45.19
- Tulsa, Oklahoma (#158 overall) – 45.33
Where New England cities ranked
Here are the 12 happiest cities in New England, and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- South Burlington, Vermont (#6 overall) – 70.15
- Burlington, Vermont (#11 overall) – 67.54
- Portland, Maine (#19 overall) – 64.59
- Nashua, New Hampshire (#27 overall) – 62.49
- Manchester, New Hampshire (#51 overall) – 59.10
- Boston, Massachusetts (#63 overall) – 56.88
- Warwick, Rhode Island (#66 overall) – 56.59
- New Haven, Connecticut (#95 overall) – 54.14
- Bridgeport, Connecticut (#96 overall) – 54.01
- Providence, Rhode Island (#98 overall) – 53.52
- Worcester, Massachusetts (#116 overall) – 50.12
- Lewiston, Maine (#145 overall) – 47.28
Vermont
Tornado with winds up to 90mph touches down in Vermont amid storms
A tornado touched down in Vermont Thursday, when a strong storm system moved through the area, the National Weather Service said.
Winds are believed to have hit 90 mph when the tornado churned through Williamstown at about 9:15 p.m., the agency said Friday. That makes it an EF1 tornado on the Fujita Scale, which goes from 0 at the weakest to 5 at the strongest.
Lasting three minutes, the twister traveled for more than four-tenths of a mile, with a maximum width of 100 yards, according to the National Weather Service’s preliminary assessment. It damaged a pair of buildings and numerous trees, shearing tree tops. Golf ball-sized hail was also reported in the area.
Severe thunderstorms popped up across the North Country Thursday night, including in central Vermont — Williamstown is south of Montpelier.
The town thanked its road crew, firefighters and locals who spent hours in the wake of the storm cleaning up.
“We appreciate all that you do to keep the town functioning though an emergency situation,” the town said.
People in the area told NBC affiliate WPTZ that the storm was shockingly powerful, and National Weather Service staffer Marlon Verasamy said that while tornadoes in Vermont are rare, they’re even rarer in this part of the state.
“Generally, when we do see tornadoes around the area that they’ve been in Addison County and not here, so it make it really, really unique to get a tornado in this kind of terrain in this part of the state,” Verasamy said.
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