Big night at Virtue Field on Thursday, as the men’s soccer team hosts Rider University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cats, 13-6-1 on the season, received an at-large bid into the 48-team tournament field.   

The Catamounts will be making their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and tenth overall. Thursday’s game, kick-off at 7 p.m., will be just the second time in school history that UVM has hosted a first round NCAA game. The first was in 1989, when the Cats defeated UConn 2-0 at Centennial Field, the first step on a deep run in the tournament.

UVM Head Coach Jesse Cormier, a Class of 1995 alumnus, was among the fans of that celebrated late-eighties UVM squad. Then a high school student in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., Cormier was in the Centennial bleachers for the tournament victories that his players will seek to emulate. The skill and spirit of those teams convinced Cormier he wanted to be a Catamount himself.

In a 2013 article in Vermont Quarterly, Cormier reflected on the core of the coaching philosophy that traces back to his own time in a Catamount uniform. “Help somebody else win.” he said. “Coming out of high school, it was about me. But here at UVM as a player, I tried to help our team win. Now as a coach my job is to help our players have a plan and help them figure out how to be successful. I want them to win. Not just games, but win in life—be winners. Win each day. Win in practice. Win in the classroom. Supporting them in that process, that’s the fun part for me.”

Adult tickets for Thursday’s game are $12 for reserved and $10 for general admission, while tickets for children 17 and under are available for $5 each. UVM students attending the game will receive free admission.