Max Murray prepares to boot the ball during an NCAA men’s soccer semifinal against Denver on Friday in Cary, North Carolina. Vermont won in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime. Photo by Alex Weiss/UVM athletics

Max Murray is wringing every last drop out of his college soccer career, savoring every moment. Every game is an opportunity for Murray, a graduate student at the University of Vermont. Each day the Catamounts are still playing is a step never before taken.

The Kennebunk native’s college career ends Monday night, as late as it possibly could. Murray and the Catamounts will play in the NCAA championship game, against Marshall in Cary, North Carolina. On Friday, Vermont beat Denver on penalty kicks to advance to the championship game for the first time. Playing center back, Murray, a 2020 graduate of Kennebunk High, was a key player for the Catamounts’ stifling defense.

Aside from defending the Pioneers’ strong forwards for all 110 minutes of play, Murray showed his flair for the dramatic with the game on the line. With the game still knotted 1-1 after regulation and two overtimes, Murray was the third shooter for the Catamounts in the penalty kick tiebreaker. He buried his shot, giving Vermont a lead it would not relinquish. When Denver’s Trevor Wright hit the crossbar a few minutes later, the Catamounts had the win and a chance at their first NCAA soccer title.

“The hard work and dedication some of our guys have put in for the last five full years, to finally see it all come together, it’s pretty special,” Murray said in the postgame press conference Friday night. “But most importantly, we’ve got one more game to go.”

As Murray spoke, Vermont Coach Rob Dow, sitting to his left, put his hand on Murray’s shoulder. It was an acknowledgment of all the hard work Murray has put in over the last five seasons just to get to this moment. Dow, a UMaine graduate, witnessed it all, the maturity that grows from joining a new team in the middle of a pandemic, to leading it to the cusp of an unprecedented achievement.

“Max is phenomenal. Coming into the program, I think on his visit here, he didn’t say a word,” Dow said earlier in the week. “He’s grown into a man that’s a leader, that takes the team by his arms.”

Max Murray, right, and his University of Vermont men’s soccer teammates celebrate after they beat Denver in an NCAA semifinal Friday night in Cary, North Carolina. Photo by Alex Weiss/UVM athletics

There’s a lot of room in those arms, the wingspan of a 6-foot-5 player versatile enough to earn All-America East honors at two different positions in his career. Dow has placed a lot of responsibility on those broad shoulders over the last five seasons. Murray has carried it all.

In 2022, he was a striker, scoring 10 goals. Early this season, after three games at striker, Murray moved to center back, and now leads the Catamounts defense while helping them transition to offense. Murray has four goals and four assists this season, and was again named to the all-conference team.

“He’s a tough player on the field, and he deserves to be where he is right now,” Dow said.

Who better to defend the top strikers than a guy who’s played the position at a top level, right? He knows all the moves, all the tricks.

To his credit, Murray doesn’t balk at moving around the field.

“I’d say I’ve been changing positions my whole life,” Murray said. “When my dad (Dean Murray) was my coach, he always had me playing multiple positions.”

In his postgame comments Friday, Vermont’s Niklas Herceg paid Murray the highest compliment a goalie can give his center back.

“We trust each other. I can trust Max,” Herceg said.

This postseason run has taken Murray and the Catamounts across the country and back, from Long Island (a 2-1 win over Hofstra) to San Diego (a 1-0 overtime win over San Diego) to Pittsburgh (a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh, the No. 2 team in the nation), to North Carolina, where Vermont knocked off No. 3 Denver on Friday. Late Thursday afternoon, with just more than 24 hours to go before he took the pitch against Denver, Murray admitted he was nervous, anxious, excited, all of the above. Wouldn’t you be?

“Nerves are always good. I’m excited to get this opportunity,” Murray said.

No matter the outcome of Monday’s game against Marshall, Murray is probably not done playing soccer. He graduated last May with a degree in public communication and is currently doing graduate work in sustainable enterprise, but there will be pro opportunities coming his way, perhaps even with Hearts of Pine, the USL League One team that will begin play in Portland this spring.

“That would be really cool,” Murray said.

First, Murray and the Catamounts have one more game, on the biggest stage. His college career has to end, but this is the way to do it.