BENNINGTON, Vt. — With the regular season in the books as of Saturday night, the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced on Sunday its seedings and bracket for the 2015 Women's Soccer Championship set to take place this week with Southern Vermont College grabbing the third spot in the tournament.
SVC will host the sixth-seeded Newbury College Nighthawks at Everett Field on Tuesday for a 2 p.m. first round contest.
With a league record of 6-2-1, the team's best-ever since the NECC's inception in 2008, the Mountaineers also pick up their highest playoff seeding and first postseason home match since the team became NCAA accredited. Southern Vermont was 10-6-1 overall on the year for a .588 winning percentage, the best for SVC in the regular season since the 2012 squad put up a .647 (11-4-2).
Mountaineer head coach Michael Zauzig has never missed the NECC postseason since coming to Southern Vermont, leading the team into the tournament now for the fifth straight year. "I'm so stoked with how we've played the last two weeks and to be home on Tuesday," he commented. "I'm really happy with the commitment the team has made to getting better over the past couple weeks. We have put an emphasis on defensive principles and it has certainly paid off. The team has earned this home playoff match, and we're looking forward to having the hill filled on Tuesday."
Defensive focus certainly paid off for SVC in the month of October as the team only allowed 11 goals in nine games for a 1.15 goals against average. The team has gone 6-2-1 in that time, going to overtime in four games with a 2-1-1 mark in matches that go to extra periods. Southern Vermont enters the tournament with sophomore keeper Melissa Mascari (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) who has recorded three shutouts in her last four starts, allowing just seven goals in October for a 0.96 GAA. The Mountaineers will also feature freshman Molly Madore (Higganum, Conn.), a rookie forward that is tied for second in the league with 14 goals, the most for any NECC freshman; she is also second in the Conference with 34 total points scored.
Tuesday's first round playoff will be a rematch of an October 3 contest that saw SVC triumph with a 5-4 win in double overtime on the Nighthawks' home pitch. Additional first round games see No. 7 Regis College head to No. 2 Elms College while fifth-seeded Mitchell College visits No. 4 Becker College, both of those start times slated for 6 p.m. Newbury slid into the playoffs with a Saturday victory at Bay Path, jumping over Regis in the standings with its tie-breaking win over the Pride earlier last week. Lesley University took the top seed and a first-round bye with its fifth straight unblemished league record.
The winner of Southern Vermont and Newbury will take on the victor of Regis and Elms at the highest remaining seed in Thursday's semifinal round while Lesley will host the winner of Mitchell and Becker. The two teams to advance from the semis will then play the championship game on Saturday at the highest remaining seed. SVC looks to get back to the semifinals after making it there last year with a 1-0 win over Becker.
2015 NECC Women's Soccer First Round - Tuesday, November 3
Game 1: #7 Regis at #2 Elms – 6:00 p.m.
Game 2: #6 Newbury at #3 Southern Vermont – 2:00 p.m.
Game 3: #5 Mitchell at #4 Becker – 6:00 p.m.
2015 NECC Women's Soccer Semifinals - Thursday, November 5
Game 4: Game 3 winner @ #1 Lesley – 8:00 p.m.
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
2015 NECC Women's Soccer Championship - Saturday, November 7
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner