BENNINGTON, Vt.- In 1999 the Southern Vermont College Women's Soccer program was at an all time high. The program had won ten games, three out of the last four seasons, and made the GNAC conference tournament. Then, Head Coach Scott McKenzie left for Juniata College where he has since been coaching the Women's Soccer team.
Since that 1999 season the Mountaineers Women's Soccer program had taken a downward turn. The program had combined for three wins in the last 12 seasons. That was until McKenzie's assistant coach, Michael Zauzig, came to SVC to become the Women's Soccer Head Coach in the spring of 2011.
In just Zauzig's first season as head coach, his program has matched the win total for the last decade. The Mountaineers went 3-10 in 2011, with a 2-6 mark in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play. With the two conference victories, Southern Vermont earned the seventh and final playoff spot in the NECC tournament. The Mountaineers will travel to second seeded Mitchell College Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 PM.
"This is a good start to where we want to take the program," said Head Coach Michael Zauzig. "I'm thrilled with this year's success for the team; we have had tremendous leadership and heart. However, we are not content with what we have done. As a program we have much higher goals that we would like to achieve in the coming years."
The 2011 Southern Vermont College team showed tremendous improvements from a year ago. A team that allowed 77 goals in 2010, only allowed 36 in the 2011 regular season. The Mountaineers have also scored five more goals than they did a season ago.
Tuesday afternoon the Mountaineers will have their hands full with the reigning NECC tournament champions, Mitchell College Mariners. Southern Vermont and Mitchell met once in 2011. The Mariners came away with a 5-0 victory on September 25th. However, since that match SVC is 2-4 and has scored at least a goal in four of the six matches.
"Mitchell is well coached and solid from top to bottom. We are thrilled for this opportunity and excited for the challenge," continued Zauzig.