Max Murray of Kennebunk reacts after scoring his first goal of the season for Vermont. Murray leads the 15th-ranked Catamounts in scoring. Ryan Manley/UVM Athletics
If you watched Max Murray play a sport at Kennebunk High – be it soccer or basketball – you knew the graceful, skilled 6-foot-5 athlete could score.
But in college, it was supposed to be different. Murray was recruited to play for the University of Vermont men’s soccer team as a center back. It was the position he’d played since middle school on club teams, including Seacoast United’s Olympic Development squad during his first three years of high school.
And Murray did play on defense as a freshman at Vermont during the pandemic-shortened campaign in the spring of 2021.
Vermont Coach Rob Dow said he started “dabbling” with Murray at the top of the offense because Murray is athletic, fast, and has a good understanding of the game. “And, we were struggling putting the ball into the back of the net,” Dow said.
This season, after missing the first two games because of a hamstring injury, Murray has been Vermont’s full-time striker. And it’s working.
The junior leads Vermont in goals (six) and points (15). After an assist on the first goal Saturday in a 4-0 America East win against Bryant, Murray has registered a point in six of the last seven games. He was named the America East Offensive Player of the Week three straight times. Murray ranks 15th in points per game (1.67) among all NCAA Division I players.
Vermont (9-1-1), the defending America East champion, has climbed to No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches/NCAA Division I poll and is likely to move up when the next rankings are released Tuesday. The Catamounts have won eight straight since tying No. 7 Syracuse and have not allowed a goal in their last four games.
Murray, 20, credited his teammates and coaches with helping to make his position transition so effective.
“Being able to absorb what they’re saying and if they’re telling me to be in a certain area at a certain time, then getting there,” Murray said. “They trust I’ll be able to score. So I give (the credit) all to them.”
Max Murray joined the Kennebunk High boys’ soccer team in the fall of 2019 after playing for Seacoast United’s Olympic Development Program team during his first three years of high school. John Ewing/Staff Photographer
Dow said Murray’s off-ball movement and work ethic have been key parts of his success. Murray and forward Alex Nagy (three goals, seven assists), a fifth-year senior out of Bow, New Hampshire, have developed a particularly good chemistry.
“Alex is always going to get into a position where he can put someone into a goal-scoring position, so Max is ready for that,” Dow said.
Murray is one of several members of the Vermont team with a Maine connection.
Starting defender Garrett Lillie, a fifth-year senior, and reserve forward Ryan Combe are both from York. Lillie transferred to Vermont from Coastal Carolina; Combe transferred from Akron. Reserve sophomore forward Connor Thompson is from Kennebunk. Like Murray, the three other Mainers played for Seacoast United’s Olympic Development Program team.
Dow is a 2003 graduate of the University of Maine, where he played four seasons of varsity soccer, twice leading the Black Bears in scoring. UMaine suspended its men’s soccer program, along with women’s volleyball, in 2009 as part of an institution-wide budget cut.
Associate head coach Adrian Dubois was the head coach at St. Joseph’s College in Maine from 2014-18, leading the Monks to a 42-game unbeaten streak over the final two seasons. Dubois also worked with Seacoast United.
“We all grew up playing for the same club, and having a connection with Coach Dow and Coach Dubois is really nice,” Murray said. “It’s cool to see other Mainers being successful, especially on my team and also other places.”
Murray noted that Maine’s high school Class of 2020 includes Lewiston’s Bilal Hersi playing at Siena, Gorham’s Andrew Rent at Boston University, Yarmouth’s Alejandro Coury at Colgate and Cumberland’s Aidan Melville at Providence. Hersi, Rent and Coury are starters.
“We all played together from U9 to U15, and seeing that we all made it, it’s quite cool,” Murray said.
Murray, Coury and Melville played for ODP programs in the fall through their junior year then decided to play their senior season for their respective high schools. Hersi and Rent played high school soccer.
Murray had 19 goals and seven assists at Kennebunk in 2019, was named the SMAA Offensive Player of the Year, and was a Varsity Maine All-State selection. Throughout high school, Murray played basketball for the Rams and was a two-time Varsity Maine All-State selection in that sport.
Now, Murray is on track to be an America East all-star – and possibly get some All-America attention, too.
“Well, you don’t want to put too much pressure on somebody,” Dow said. “Now that he’s had some success, he’ll be a target of other team’s game plans and he’ll have to roll through that, but we have not seen the best of Max. He just has so much potential.
“In the game of soccer, typically you see guys who are 5-10, 5-11, quick and shifty and agile,” Dow continued. “Well, Max is (6-5), quick, shifty and agile. His ceiling is really high.”
Murray’s focus is on team goals. Vermont is looking to return to the NCAA tournament after being knocked out in the first round last season by Villanova, losing 1-0 at home.
The America East tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The league also received an at-large bid in three of the past six seasons, including last year when New Hampshire got in after being upset by Vermont in the conference tournament.
Vermont and New Hampshire are atop the league standings this fall with 3-0 records. Vermont hosts UNH in its final regular-season home game on Oct. 28, and wraps up the regular season at Albany on Nov. 1. The America East tournament begins with quarterfinal games on Nov. 5. All games are played at the higher seed.
“The team that we have, it’s a really good team,” Murray said. “We know that moving forward, the games are just going to keep getting tougher and tougher.”
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