Ethan Czaporowski isn’t a stranger to game-winning goals in sudden-death overtime championship game situations. Although Czaporowski was ecstatic and stormed the field with the rest of his University of Vermont teammates after Maximilian Kissel evaded Marshall’s goalie before sending home the national-championship winning tally on Monday night, the former Belchertown High School soccer star can’t say he hasn’t seen something very similar done before.

A golden moment for the Catamounts 🤩#MCollegeCup x 🎥ESPN2 / @UVMmsoccer pic.twitter.com/se9J3TGMDE

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 17, 2024

In fact, it was Czaporowski himself who converted on a play exactly like Kissel — although Czaporowski was a freshman suiting up in black and orange for the Orioles. Locked in a scoreless tie in overtime against Medway in the 2019 MIAA Division 3 state final, Czaporowski received a long boot from a Belchertown defenseman. He had only one defender running with him stride-for-stride in between him and Medway’s goalie.

Czaporowski controlled the ball with his chest, got it to his feet and separated from Medway’s defense without breaking stride. As he sprinted into the box, he wrapped a beautiful right-footed shot around the keeper and into the bottom right part of the goal – crowning Belchertown as 2019 state champions.

Fast forward to Monday, and Kissel gave Orioles head coach Zach Siano, who coached Czaporowski for two seasons at Belchertown, a sense of déjà vu with a carbon-copy strike – again crowning Czaporowski a champion.

“It was eerily reminiscent of Ethan’s goal, where it was just a big ball over the top and the forward out-paced the center back,” Siano said. “It was a mirror image of Ethan’s goal in the 2019 state finals, which was wild to see. If you watch them side-by-side, it’s basically the same exact play.”

Although Czaporowski didn’t see the field during his first season with the Catamounts, Siano has a strong feeling the redshirt sophomore – who started his career with Virginia Tech before transferring to Vermont – still made his mark. When Czaporowski played for Siano at Belchertown, he was always one of the hardest workers in practice. He never took a day off.

That mindset is precisely what led him to play Division 1 college soccer, and he likely pushed his teammates during training throughout the season, because those traits Siano described haven’t gone anywhere.

“He was tenacious on all levels,” Siano recalled. “He was one of the hardest-working practice players I’ve ever seen in my life, and I say that in regard to, some of the guys might go through the motions in practice, but Ethan was trying to get himself better in some capacity every single day. He started for us as a freshman, and he pushed himself, his teammates and even us as coaches. So, just a great quality of someone who really wants to be the best when he has the possibility to be it.”

Czaporowski is young, yet he already has spent most of his life taking calculated risks to better his situation. After leading Belchertown in goals and assists as a freshman (which earned him 2019 Gazette Player of the Year) and scoring a whopping nine goals in five games during his COVID-shortened sophomore season, Czaporowski decided to do away with high school soccer. Instead, he participated in club soccer, playing with the Boston Bolts in USL League 2 and MLS Next.

It certainly worked out for him, as he earned a scholarship to play ACC soccer at Virginia Tech. And when things didn’t go as planned in Blacksburg, Czaporowski once more had to make a tough choice. He ended up transferring to Vermont for the 2024 season.

That turned out to be another decision he got right, and Monday night further solidified that.

“For him to take a big leap and go to Virginia Tech as a true freshman, and then make the bold decision to transfer to Vermont, it seems like it’s paying off for him,” Siano said. “Ethan bet on himself with this, and he has several times. I’m ecstatic for him.”

Alongside Czaporowski, Catamounts teammate TJ Liquori of Westfield is another western Mass. native. And at UMass, former Belchertown standout Joseph Bianco made a run to the Elite Eight this season.

Western Massachusetts – and Hampshire County specifically – was well represented in this year’s NCAA Division 1 men’s soccer tournament.

“People tend to overlook western Mass. soccer for the most part, so to see us have several players on different teams in this tournament, it’s an awesome thing to see,” Siano said.

In Siano’s classroom at Westfield High School, a giant printed picture of Czaporowski’s cold-blooded game-winner hangs above his desk. He sees it every single time he walks in to work and is reminded of one of the best moments in Belchertown soccer history.

“It’s a huge, panoramic photo,” Siano said. “I told [Czaporowski] I’m eternally grateful to him for that moment, and to see him rewarded for all of his hard work across the board is a great thing to see.”