Vermont’s men’s soccer national title was unprecedented. Dalen Cuff rose to the occasion on the call.

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe The University of Vermont mens soccer team excuse me, make that the national champion University of Vermont mens soccer team was undeniably an underdog along its now-storied journey.

The Catamounts were ranked No.

17 and unseeded entering the NCAA Tournament.

Even as an exceptional America East program, they dont have the resources to match the big programs from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference.

Underdog? Accurate assessment.

Just dont tell the Catamounts themselves that they were a Cinderella story, as if their success required some sort of fairy-tale caliber intervention.

For one thing, Cinderella doesnt wear flannel, as the Vermont players were prone to do when they took the field for warm-ups.

For another, they were certain they could beat anyone, even while the final chapters of its extraordinary and ultimately fulfilled quest were still being written.

They were not just happy to be there, said Dalen Cuff, who called Vermonts 2-1 overtime victory over Marshall on ESPN2 last Monday night.

They felt like a team on a mission and they were.

Their mind-set was, We will be forgotten if we dont win the whole thing.

I think they were just very salient in the fact that if we win the whole thing, then we hit legendary status.

And they were right.

So when the Catamounts achieved what might have been a stunning outcome to just about everyone outside of their own locker room, prevailing on Max Kissels golden goal in the 95th minute, Cuffs exceptional call included acknowledging the Catamounts own weve-got-this, no-glass-slipper-necessary mentality.

Oh my gosh! They do it! exclaimed Cuff as Kissels goal rolled toward the net.

Dont call them Cinderella! You can call them national champs! Vermonts victory and how it occurred made the Catamounts an instant social media sensation, and the buzz carried through much of the week.

On Tuesday, the match drove conversation on such shows as ESPNs Around The Horn, where host Tony Reali declared it the best sporting event of the year.

I told Cuff whom locals may remember from his time at Comcast SportsNet New England nearly a decade ago that watching the end of the championship match reminded me of what it felt like when Doug Fluties Hail Mary found Gerard Phelan to lift Boston College over Miami in November 1984.

Its funny you mention the Flutie thing, said Cuff, who has called four NCAA mens soccer finals for ESPN.

When I grew up, I had the VHS tape, Great Sports Moments of the 80s.

One of them was the Flutie play, with the radio call: He did it! He did it! Flutie did it! I never thought Id be the voice of any type of unforgettable moment, especially since I started my career as an analyst.

Ive heard people like Al Michaels or Mike Tirico or Joe Buck talk about when youre calling something that has a chance to be an incredible moment, or when youre calling a championship, Do you think about it in advance? Do you rehearse? The weird thing is, I dont think you can in soccer, where one moment that can define the game can happen at any time.

Cuff said he just instinctively went with what was already on his mind.

And what was on my mind was that they found it practically offensive to be called Cinderella, he said.

Their point of view was, Weve won more games than anybody in this tournament the last few years.

We know were a small school from America East, but were not Cinderella.

So we mentioned that during the broadcast a couple of times, and so in the moment I communicated that theyll never be considered Cinderella again.

Just call them champs.

Cuff acknowledged that he didnt quite grasp how much the championship match and Vermonts team was resonating with sports fans until the next day.

I walked out of there in kind of a stupor, he said.

Not that they won, but more like, I cant believe that happened.

The way it went down.

I was kind of dumbfounded for a couple of hours, and I dont think I understood the response and how many people watched and appreciated what theyd seen.

I realized Tuesday with all of the talk about the game and people texting me how much people gravitated toward this.

The championship aired on ESPN2 in the spot in which the ManningCast would normally be on as the alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football.

But there was no show last Monday.

Shout out to the Manning brothers for taking the week off, said Cuff with a laugh.

Thank you for that.

Im sure some people tuned in thinking the ManningCast was on, stuck around, and got this unbelievable game.

I do think where its on television matters.

It was on ESPN2 for the first time since Ive been calling it.

I think random people stumbled across the game.

I recognized that part instantly.

When you walk into a bar, ESPN is likely on TV.

ESPNU is not likely to be on.

So the platform made a difference.

...

Jim Donaldson, an important member of an outstanding Providence Journal sports section for nearly four decades, died Thursday morning at age 73.

Donaldson never smoothed the edges of his opinions as a writer, particularly when it came to the Patriots, and was a friendly companion in the press box.

I enjoyed his wry sense of humor as a frequent weekend host on WEEI back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Even after his retirement in 2016, he remained an engaging and opinionated, of course presence on social media.

Ill miss hearing from him .

.

.

Expect the Red Sox to announce their broadcast booths for both NESN and WEEI at Fenway Fest an even kinder, gentler version of Winter Weekend, apparently on Saturday, Jan.

11.

Dave OBrien (NESN) and Will Flemming (WEEI) will remain in their play-by-play roles, but some other specifics are still being worked out.

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