BENNINGTON, Vt. — With just two yellow cards issued to it during the 2015 season, the Southern Vermont College women's soccer team earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's (NSCAA) Silver Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award as announced by the organization on Wednesday.

This is the Mountaineers' second straight Silver honor and third in four years for head coach Michael Zauzig's crews. "This is a great award, and I am stoked that we are receiving it again," he commented after now having four of his five teams while at SVC earn one of the ethics and sportsmanship laurels. "Not only do we want to respect our opponent, but the game as well. The game provides such a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow in life; I want us to hold up our end of the bargain."

A total of 82 intercollegiate teams, both men's and women's, from around the country and across all NCAA divisions received either the Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze award. Only eight squads earned the Platinum honor given to teams that don't receive a single yellow or red card through the duration of the season. 15 teams picked up the Gold award for having a card percentage between 1-10 percent of its overall games while an additional 41 joined Southern Vermont in collecting the Silver honor for receiving a card in 11-30 percent of its total contests. 17 other groups took home the Bronze award for having a card percentage between 31-50 on the year.

The 2015 Southern Vermont crew narrowly missed Gold status, receiving just two yellow cards in 19 games for a 10.5 percentage that was rounded up to 11 percent for criteria purposes.

"I'm very proud of the 2015 season," continued Zauzig. "The ladies took the program to a new level. More athleticism, physicality, and pressure were applied during matches, and yet we still only acquired two yellows. This shows that we had another successful year of playing the game the way it should be played."

SVC was joined by the Lesley University women's side as the only soccer teams in the New England Collegiate Conference to pick an NSCAA Ethics and Sportsmanship Award, the Lynx also garnering a Silver honor.

Founded in 1941 and based in Kansas City, Kan., the NSCAA is a non-profit organization with a mission to educate coaches, encourage excellence, and serve the soccer community. It is the world's largest soccer coaches' organization with members at every level of the game. The membership is primarily made up of coaches, but also includes administrators, referees and others in the soccer industry. The NSCAA provides its members ways to enhance the game of soccer by providing a national education program, interaction and networking opportunities, and membership benefits.