12 minute read
A YEAR FOR THE AGES
What was the greatest year in UVM sports history? Was it 1912, when Albert Gutterson, class of 1912, won a gold medal in Stockholm with a new Olympic record in the long jump? Was it 1931, when undergrad Edith Pritchard ’31 posted 28 perfect scores in rifle and set a Women’s Individual Intercollegiate NRA match record? Was it 1964, when Bobby Mitchell '68 shattered numerous UVM football records and set an NCAA record for rushing attempts and yards per game? Was it 1972, when Barbara Ann Cochran ’78 won gold in slalom at the Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan? Was it 1996, when the UVM men’s hockey team made it to the Frozen Four with future NHL stars Martin Saint Louis ’97 and Tim Thomas ’97? Was it 2005, when the men’s basketball team defeated #4 Syracuse in the NCAA tournament? Was it 2010, when the UVM women’s basketball team took down Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament—led by Courtnay Pilypaitis ’10, the first NCAA player to record over 1,900 points, 800 rebounds, and 600 assists? Or was it the 20212022 season?
While these historic years, teams, and student-athletes provided plenty of excitement and glory, consider the case that the widespread success made this past year the greatest year— of all time—for UVM Athletics.
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Here’s the case: UVM teams compiled the university’s bestever collective team winning percentage of .617 while maintaining a 3.4 GPA as a department. Along the way they racked up six conference championships and placed second in the America East Commissioner’s Cup. The Catamounts were also fifth out of 71 non-football schools across the country in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which measures overall department athletic success. A record 13 athletes represented UVM and five different countries in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. And a record six teams represented UVM in NCAA championships. All of this during the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
What year could top that? If you have others to propose, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note at magazine@uvm.edu.
And if you need more convincing about the wonders and success of this past year in UVM sports, here’s a sketch:
This past winter, Catamount sports fans were rewarded with banner seasons from the perennially powerful UVM ski team and John Becker’s men’s basketball squad. The hoop Cats steamrolled their way to their ninth America East tournament title since 2003 with an 84-43 win over UMBC, and they took the fourth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks to the limit in the first-round of the NCAA tournament before falling 74-71.
On the slopes, the UVM ski team won its 38th Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association title and finished second in the nation behind only Utah at the NCAA Championships. UVM student-athletes captured three individual national titles at the championships including U.S. Olympian Ben Ogden ’22, who swept both Nordic races, and Mathias Tefre, ’23 who became the fourth Catamount in program history to win back-to-back national titles in the slalom.
November 7, 2021, was an ecstatic day for thousands of UVM soccer fans at Virtue Field as the UVM women’s soccer team won its first-ever America East Conference Championship against New Hampshire.
COVID-19 severely limited the women’s season in 2020— the Cats played just six games, finishing with a 1-4-1 record. Coach Kristi Huizenga’s squad got off to a quick start in 2021, winning three of their first four before dropping back-to-back contests to America East rivals Binghamton and Stony Brook. “We were disappointed and frankly a little mad at ourselves after the Stony Brook game,” said midfielder Alyssa Oviedo ’22. “I think that sparked something in us.”
The Cats didn’t lose another conference game the rest of the season. UVM defeated UAlbany 4-1 in the semifinal of the conference tournament, and Cricket Basa ’22 scored the only goal of the championship game against New Hampshire in the 80th minute to clinch the conference title at Virtue Field in front of a women’s soccer record crowd of 2,017 fans. The Catamounts advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, but fell 2-0 in a tight contest at Princeton.
As co-president of the UVM Student-Athlete Advisory Council during the uncertain 2020-21 season, Oviedo ’22 was acutely aware of the anxiety student-athletes were experiencing due to COVID. Distancing requirements often removed student-athletes from the essence of successful team play—working out and practicing together. “It was really tough to stay connected,” Oviedo said. “With so many games cancelled we’d say to ourselves, ‘you never know if this is going to be the last game of our season.’”
Oviedo worked to help connect student-athletes on different teams through events like “Better Together,” which invited athletes to participate in fun, COVID-safe group games at Virtue Field. “We had girls on the lacrosse team and boys on the basketball team just taking penalty kicks. We had field hockey girls trying to toss lacrosse balls to each other. It was one way to physically bring student-athletes back together.”
Outstanding team defense and goaltending were the hallmarks of the men’s soccer team early in the season. The Cats reeled off five straight wins without being scored on, beating Iona, Lehigh, Colgate, Princeton, and UMass by a collective 10-0 score. UVM forwards and strikers increasingly found the back of the net as the season progressed, and the Cats finished with another five-game winning streak, establishing themselves as the two-seed in the America East Tournament. After dispatching NJIT 3-2 in the semifinals, the men’s championship game also came down to a single score late in the game. It was Yves Borie’s G ’23 goal at the 68th minute against New Hampshire, a team unbeaten in conference play during the regular season and ranked sixth in the country, that delivered the sixth America East Championship in men’s program history and the first for head coach Rob Dow.
He believes the success of the women’s team was a motivating factor for his players. “It was great to see that our guys were the loudest supporters of the women’s team on the sideline. It also created a bit of an expectation—‘well, the women beat New Hampshire, so I guess we need to go down there and win too.’”
Other teams and student-athletes were finding new levels of success during the fall semester as well. The women’s field hockey team reached the 10-win mark for the first time in program history, and the Catamounts notched their 10th victory over Maine, a team ranked nationally in the top 25.
Despite missing several student-athletes representing their home countries during the Beijing Winter Olympics, the UVM women’s hockey team never had back-to-back losses after November. Four UVM women skaters took a late-season sabbatical to Beijing to follow their Olympic dreams including Natálie Mlynková ’24, Tynka Pátková ’23, and Blanka Škodová ’22. The trio joined alumna Sammy Kolowrat '19 on the Czech Republic team. Sini Karjalainen '22 competed for Finland, making her Olympic debut against the U.S. team. She brought her bronze medal home to Burlington following Finland’s 4-0 victory over Switzerland. In addition, incoming first-year student Sofie Skott skated for Denmark.
Hockey East Player of the Year Theresa Schafzahl '22, who broke UVM records for most goals and total points in a season, acknowledged that the loss of so many key players at once required adjustments. “In the grand scheme of things, I think it really made us better because it opened up opportunities for younger players who didn’t have as much ice time,” she said.
Reinforced by the returning Olympians, the UVM women finished at 22-11-3, garnering the most wins in program history. They beat Providence 4-1 in the Hockey East quarterfinals before falling in the semifinals. At season’s end, Schafzahl and Maude Poulin-Labelle ’22 became the first women in program history to be named Division I CCM/AHCA All-Americans.
Meanwhile the men’s team showed marked improvement as head hockey coach Todd Woodcroft continued to reshape the UVM roster. Last year the Catamounts integrated 14 new players, and many more talented recruits are on their way to the Gut. UVM lost a total of 12 games by just one goal, suggesting that the team is just a step or two away from being a contender again.
While the men’s basketball team was establishing itself as the clear favorite in the America East, the UVM women were also putting together a memorable year. UVM posted their first 20-win season since 2010. Led by guard Emma Utterbeck ’22 (13.5 points per game) and Anna Olson ’24 (12.3 points a game and a team best 40 blocks,) UVM entered the America East tournament as the three-seed. In their first home playoff game in 21 years, the Catamounts came back from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Binghamton 65-60. Their season came to an end in the semifinals at UAlbany, the eventual America East Champions.
Mayer Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge believes the success and work ethic of the Vermont men rubbed off on her own players. “This year more than ever I’d walk into the gym and 24/7 I’d see either one of our players or one of the men’s players working. That’s the culture I’ve seen from the men’s team, and now it’s part of our program. Credit to our players—they want to be good,” she said.
The Catamounts were also winners in the swimming pool, finishing with a meet record of 4-3. The team finished third overall at the America East Swimming and Diving Championships. The following week Jackie House ’25 and Kira Parker ’22 earned AllECAC honors at the three-day ECAC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. UVM placed 10th out of 25 women's teams.
Before the hockey and basketball seasons wound down the UVM lacrosse teams were already in action, and early signs pointed to a stellar season for both the men’s and women’s squads.
Under sixth-year coach Chris Feifs, the men opened the year with a very competitive effort against Duke, ranked third in the nation at the time. Ten days later the Catamounts defeated Penn State 16-10—it was the program’s first victory against a current member of the Big Ten since 1986. The Cats rolled to a perfect 6-0 conference record and won their second straight America East title before a home crowd at Virtue Field with a 13-11 victory over UMBC. In the NCAA Tournament, the Catamounts hosted their first-ever NCAA tournament game and dominated against Manhattan 15-3 before falling to the eventual national champion, top-ranked Maryland. Meanwhile the women’s lax squad sprinted off to an 8-1 start en-route to a 14-5 campaign. Highlights included a 16-10 victory over Boston University, UVM’s first win against the Terriers since 1996. After falling to Binghamton earlier in the season, the Cats defeated the Bearcats in the semifinals of the America East Tournament 13-12, then followed it up with another thrilling 12-11 win over topranked Albany in the championship game. The Cats trailed late by five goals but outscored the Danes 5-2 in the final quarter. Grace Giancola ’22, named outstanding player of the tournament, scored the tiebreaker to ice the game in the closing minutes. It marked the first America East championship in program history, and the first time an America East school won both the women’s and men’s conference championships in the same season.
Milford, Mass., native Ava Vasile ’23, named to the America East All-Conference First Team in lacrosse in 2021 and 2022, chose UVM among other suitors because of the team culture. “From the first moment I visited the locker room I could really get that sense of family, just the way people interacted with each other.”
That culture was abruptly challenged when COVID-19 made large group practices unsafe. Team members made the best of it, practicing in small group “pods” and holding periodic online check-ins called “Cat Fams.” Vasile said the athletes looked forward to games, if only because it was the only time they didn’t have to wear masks.
“Sticking together required mental toughness,” Vasile said. She credits her coaches and the athletic training staff for working closely with each athlete to maintain fitness.
“Becca (performance coach Rebekkah Bond) really shaped us into almost a new team. She's just such an amazing strength coach and she just pushes us to be the best we can be,” she said. “And Sarah (Head Coach Sarah Dalton Graddock) is such a great coach and such a good person outside of lacrosse. The coaching staff is a big reason why I came to Vermont.”
In the midst of the historic lacrosse double the Catamounts also hosted the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the third time in program history at the Frank H. Livak Track & Field Facility. The two-day event was highlighted by junior Lauren Triarsi becoming the first Catamount since 2015 to be crowned champion in the heptathlon, which recognizes the best all-around athlete competing in seven distinct disciplines.
UVM Director of Athletics Jeff Schulman credits student-athletes, coaches, and athletic training staff for maintaining a sense of joint purpose and teamwork during the bleakest days of COVID-19 restrictions.
“I’m incredibly proud of the way everyone in the UVM Athletics community and our entire campus responded to the extraordinary challenges presented by the pandemic,” he said. “Last year was record-setting in all respects. The success is a powerful testament to the amazing group of student-athletes, coaches, and staff who are such source of pride for Catamount Country. Our athletic medicine team deserves special recognition for the remarkable effort that was put in helping our department navigate through the pandemic and positioning us for such a successful 21-22 season.” UVM
