Cinderella stories aren’t just for March. On Monday night, the Vermont Catamounts won their first-ever national championship in any sport by winning the NCAA men’s soccer title in thrilling fashion against the Marshall Thundering Herd.
With the score tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, the two schools went into a golden goal overtime session. That’s when Vermont’s Maximilian Kissel won a 1v1 duel with a Marshall defender, and then rounded the goalkeeper to slot home the game-winning goal.
The dramatic walk-off win sent the Vermont bench and fans in attendance into delirium and was made even better thanks to the call from ESPN’s Dalen Cuff who was on play-by-play duties for the network.
A golden moment for the Catamounts 🤩#MCollegeCup x 🎥ESPN2 / @UVMmsoccer pic.twitter.com/se9J3TGMDE
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 17, 2024
“Oh my gosh! They do it! Don’t call them Cinderella, you can call them National Champs. For the first time ever!” Cuff exclaimed.
That’s a pretty great call for such a historic moment. But what makes it all the more amazing and unique is that soccer isn’t even Cuff’s primary sport, it’s college basketball.
Cuff works primarily for the ACC Network as an anchor and host for various programming but got his start in broadcasting as a college basketball analyst following a successful playing career at Columbia University. He’s also done some hosting for ESPN’s main college basketball coverage as well.
But somewhere along the way, he must have caught the soccer bug. And judging by this call, maybe we should get him on the call for some Bundesliga or La Liga games for ESPN.
About Matt Yoder