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Vermont claims the program's first national championship on Maximilian Kissel's overtime goal

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Vermont claims the program's first national championship on Maximilian Kissel's overtime goal
Sport

Sport

Vermont claims the program's first national championship on Maximilian Kissel's overtime goal

2024-12-17 12:23 Last Updated At:12:30

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Maximilian Kissel scored in a sudden-death overtime to help Vermont beat Marshall 2-1 on Monday night for the program's first national championship.

It was the ninth championship game decided by overtime or penalty kicks in the 21st century.

Vermont (16-2-6) became the first squad in school history to win a national championship in a team sport — with the skiing program winning six national championships. The Catamounts were also first America East team to ever make a national title game in a team sport.

Marshall (15-2-7) was looking to earn the program’s second national title in as many College Cup appearances since claiming the 2020 national championship.

Kissel was first to a long ball over the defense along the right sideline and he headed it forward as defender Alex Bamford fell to the ground. Marshall goalkeeper Aleksa Janjic came out of his area and Kissel cut to his left before sending a shot into an empty net. Kissel ripped off his jersey and ran to the corner flag to celebrate with his team.

It was Vermont’s 16th goal this season in the 83rd minute or later.

Kissel's teammate Marcell Papp tied it at 1-all in the 81st after a give-and-go with David Ismail following a Marshall turnover deep in its own area.

Kissel almost gave Vermont a 2-1 lead in the 85th after cutting back on his defender in the box on a breakaway, but Janjic dove to his right to deflect it just wide of the post.

Janjic made a huge save midway through the first half when he denied Ismail on a one-on-one breakaway.

Tarik Pannholzer scored his third goal of the season — all coming in the NCAA Tournament — in the 57th minute to give Marshall the lead. Vermont first-year goaltender Niklas Herceg spoiled a cross by Rai Pinto and Pannholzer was there for the rebound.

Herceg kept it 1-0 after denying Haruhi Taneda's close-range attempt in the 78th minute.

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Vermont's Adrian Schulze Solano (5) and Marshall's Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, left, battle for a ball during the first half of the NCAA College Cup National Championship soccer final in Cary, N.C., Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

Vermont's Adrian Schulze Solano (5) and Marshall's Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, left, battle for a ball during the first half of the NCAA College Cup National Championship soccer final in Cary, N.C., Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

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Hamas to free 6 more Israeli hostages from Gaza Strip in latest step of ceasefire

2025-02-22 14:32 Last Updated At:14:41

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas is set to free six more Israeli hostages Saturday from the Gaza Strip, but the exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is shadowed by heightened tension between the adversaries that clouds the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.

As preparations moved forward Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation” of the agreement centered on the wrong identification of a body released by Hamas.

The family of Shiri Bibas said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed that the remains released overnight are those of Israeli mother of two small boys. Her body had been released by militants Friday after one set of remains handed over Thursday had been misidentified as hers but later determined to be an unidentified Palestinian woman.

Three other bodies returned were confirmed as those of Bibas’ sons and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when all were taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 in Israel and ignited the war.

Israel said its tests determined that the three hostages had been killed by their captors. Hamas has claimed Lifshitz and the members of the Bibas family were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Hamas said it would “conduct a thorough review” of information regarding the body and suggested that Israeli bombing of the area where hostages were held might have caused a mix-up of remains.

The group’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it would go ahead with the release of the six Israeli hostages planned for Saturday.

The dispute over the body’s identity raised new doubt about the ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war but is nearing the end of its first phase. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, are likely to be even more difficult.

The six Israeli men set for release Saturday are expected to be the last living hostages freed during the ceasefire’s first phase.

They include Eliya Cohen, 27; Omer Shem Tov, 22; and Omer Wenkert, 23. All three were abducted from a music festival during the Oct. 7 attack. Tal Shoham, 40, who was taken from the community of Kibbutz Beeri, is also set to be released.

Avera Mengistu, 39, and Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, who have been held since crossing into Gaza on their own years ago, are also scheduled to be returned to Israel as part of the deal.

More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will be freed in exchange, the Palestinian prisoners media office said Friday. The prisoners set for release include 50 serving life sentences, 60 with long sentences, 47 who were released under a previous hostage-for-prisoner exchange and 445 prisoners from Gaza arrested since the war began.

Hamas has said it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. If that plan is carried out, Hamas would retain about 60 hostages, about half of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he’s committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.

Trump’s proposal to remove about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt. His idea has been welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries.

Trump said Friday that he was “a little surprised” by rejections of the proposal by Egypt and Jordan and that he would not impose it.

“I’ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it,” Trump said in a Fox News interview.

Israel’s military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians gather as Hamas fighters deploy ahead of handing over four bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians gather as Hamas fighters deploy ahead of handing over four bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hamas fighters deploy ahead of handing over four bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hamas fighters deploy ahead of handing over four bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People gather at a vigil in Tel Aviv, Israel, hours after Hamas militants turned over four bodies to Israel, three of which have been identified by Israel as hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, while the fourth, they said, is that of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People gather at a vigil in Tel Aviv, Israel, hours after Hamas militants turned over four bodies to Israel, three of which have been identified by Israel as hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, while the fourth, they said, is that of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, hours after Hamas militants turned over four bodies to Israel, three of which have been identified by Israel as hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, while the fourth they said is that of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, hours after Hamas militants turned over four bodies to Israel, three of which have been identified by Israel as hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, while the fourth they said is that of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A poster shows Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped to Gaza with her husband and two young sons on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A poster shows Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped to Gaza with her husband and two young sons on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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