Back on Jan. 26, an estimated crowd of 4,000 joined the University of Vermont men's soccer team on the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington.
The massive turnout on a winter afternoon in Vermont was in celebration of the Catamounts’ 2024 national championship, the first-ever won by a UVM soccer team. Vermont defeated Marshall in overtime, 2-1, in a come-from-behind victory in Cary, N.C., on Dec. 16 to capture the Division 1 crown.
The team paraded up Church Street, while men's soccer staff and student-athletes threw T-shirts and rally towels to the crowd. At the Top Block of Church Street Marketplace, fans and invited guests gathered around the stage to hear from the national champions. Director of Athletics Jeff Schulman, UVM President Patty Prelock, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Governor Phil Scott all spoke to the crowd about the Catamounts’ achievements and their lasting effect on the state of Vermont. Mulvaney-Stanak concluded her remarks by reading a Burlington proclamation declaring Jan. 26 as "University of Vermont Men's Soccer Team Division 1 National Champions Day."
