The No. 5 seeded Southern Vermont College men's soccer team enters the 2010 New England Collegiate Conference Championship game against the No. 2 seeded Daniel Webster College Eagles (11-5-1) representing the first team from SVC, since the NECC's inception in 2008, to make it to the "big show".
"To be in a situation to play for a conference title is something that's very special, and something we've never been in a position to do before," said Head Coach Tim Penrod.
The Mountaineers (8-10-1) owe much of its success to the exceptional coaching decisions of Coach Penrod (4th year, 21-45-3) who has had to rally his team together after several close losses throughout the season. The young squad ultimately came together when it counted, to upset the No. 4 seed in the Mariners of Mitchell College (7-8-2) on Tuesday and No. 1 seeded Lesley University (15-2-1) on Friday night.
The Lesley double overtime victory came through a 3-2 PK finally that sent the Southern Vermont fans into a frenzy, "Obviously this is the biggest win in our program's history so far," said Coach Penrod.
The Eagles eked out a 2-0 victory (both goals by Alex Jackson) in NECC play earlier in the year, so the championship is anybody's game. Jackson leads the team with 16 goals. Daniel Webster has outscored its opponents 39-16 this season. The Eagles only NECC losses came against Lesley (3-0) and Mitchell (2-1).
Forward Nick Haggerty leads SVC with 17 goals and Ben Naaktgeboren is a second scoring threat with eight goals on the year. The Mountaineers come into today's game scoring 34 goals and allowing 34 goals total this season.