Overtime winner! Bazini sends Vermont soccer to quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament

More late magic. More NCAA Tournament magic. Vermont soccer just keeps finding a way.

Yaniv Bazini’s penalty kick 29 seconds into the first overtime gave the Catamounts a 1-0 victory over host San Diego in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, advancing the America East champions to their third quarterfinal berth in three seasons.

The Catamounts (14-2-5) will play at second-seeded Pittsburgh (12-5) in the next round on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m., with the winner securing a berth to the College Cup semifinals.

Vermont pressured immediately at the start of overtime.

Good connections into the attacking third yielded a quick switch to Nathan Simeon from about 20 yards away from goal. Simeon’s ground pass into the box appeared out of reach for freshman Ryan Zellefrow to track down. But San Diego defender Trevor Dillon took Zellefrow down with a hard, sliding tackle, and the center official was quick to signal to the penalty spot.

From 12 yards out, Bazini, Vermont’s leading scorer, trotted in place and began his run-up before a slight hesitation. San Diego goalie Donovan Parisian leaned to his right enough for Bazini to bury the chance down the middle for the winner.

It was Bazini’s 12th goal of 2024 and his 28th of his Vermont career. The senior forward has also eight goals in 10 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Vermont goalie Niklas Herceg made seven saves for his fifth shutout this fall. Herceg denied a Casar Behena blast from outside the 18 for the first half’s best opportunity for both teams. He also rose up to paw away Luca Fava’s lefty knuckler about midway through the second half to keep the game scoreless.

Parisian finished with two stops for San Diego (15-3-2).

In their fourth straight NCAA Tournament and 14th overall in program history, the Catamounts blasted Iona 5-0 at home in the opening round before outlasting No. 7-seeded Hofstra on the road 2-1, via David Ismail’s game-breaking volley strike, to reach Sunday’s third round.

Two years ago, Vermont roared into the quarterfinals for the first time since 1989, highlighted by a pair of comeback triumphs that required extra periods and a rousing win over UCLA at Virtue Field. And last year, Vermont knocked off 12-seed Central Florida in a second-round OT clash.

Over the last three seasons, Vermont has collected eight NCAA Tournament victories. It had four in its history prior to that.

This fall, Vermont’s penchant for scoring goals near the end of regulation has become almost automatic: Bazini’s penalty winner Sunday was the team’s 18th goal in the 76th minute or later.

During the America East tournament, Bazini delivered an OT walk-off in the semifinals and Maximilian Kissel, Vermont’s super-sub, struck for the 86th-minute winner to seal Vermont’s first conference tourney championship since 2021.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.