ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Southern Vermont College is making an appearance in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's soccer playoffs for the first time since 2012—grabbing the No. 4 seed in the bracket as announced by the league Saturday night.
SVC took the spot with a 3-4 record in league play (5-14 overall)—that being the most league wins the team has had since it went undefeated in NECC action in 2011. Not only are the Mountaineers back in the postseason, but they are hosting a playoff game for the first time since '11 as well.
Southern Vermont will welcome fifth-seeded Newbury College (2-5 NECC, 4-14 overall) on Tuesday for a 1 p.m. first-round match at Everett Field; the Mountaineers downed the Nighthawks 3-1 in their regular season matchup on October 21.
"As we expected, this has been a season of ups and downs with the youth and inexperience," second year SVC head coach Greg Gilmore '12 said. "I think a return to the playoffs marks the progress we are making as we move the program forward, and earning a home field playoff game really shows that we have a great future here with this group and what we are building."
Southern Vermont was 4-4 at home this year with a 2-1 mark against the league on the Everett pitch. The Mountaineers were only a few scores away from having a drastically different record on the campaign as they had eight games decided by just a single goal; unfortunately, SVC was 3-5 in those contests.
"Our biggest challenge is mental toughness and consistency," Gilmore noted about what his team will face in its playoff run. "A lot of our results have been defined by how we respond to adversity. Do we pull together and push forward, or do we let our frustrations take over? If we can pull together at the most difficult moments, there's no telling how far we can go."
SVC expects this playoff experience to be the first of many to come as the team is comprised of 16 freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors, and no seniors. Nine of those 22 field-playing Mountaineers have scored a goal while another three have tallied assists on the year.
The winner of Southern Vermont's match against Newbury will line up with top-seeded Mitchell College (6-1 NECC, 7-8-1 overall) on Friday in a semifinal bout set for 2 p.m. in Connecticut. Second-seeded Lesley University (5-2 NECC, 9-8-1 overall) will host the winner of the other first-round matchup which is going to be hosted by third-seeded Elms College (5-2 NECC, 7-11 overall).
Friday's winners will then meet on Sunday, November 5 at the highest remaining seed for the league title and the right to move into the NCAA Division III tournament.
– #LetsGoSVC –