With a new season and team, can the girls live up to last years expectations for the season and pull it together in time for the playoffs or will they fall short before getting there?

Over the past few years, the women’s soccer team here at Southern Vermont College has been extremely successful and earned their chance to participate in the NECC playoffs. During the fall 2015 season, the soccer team was determined to win the championship game. At that time, the team consisted of strong, experience veterans and newbies, who had unbelievable talents. The team’s drive and determination carried them to semi-finals, only to fall short by one goal in overtime against Lesley University. Now, with a new season and team, can the girls live up to last years expectations for the season, and pull it together in time for the playoffs or fall short before getting there?

Since the soccer team had lost several seniors last year, there was a large amount of young girls recruited for the new season – with a total of nine freshmen. Fresh from high school, many of these young women didn’t realize how different collegiate level sports would be. Lacking the experience and knowledge of how collegiate-level sports work, the team is currently find themselves missing out on the drive and determination to be number one.

During the NECC season opener on Saturday, September 17th, the team worked together to prove that they deserved a spot in the playoffs once more. The only thing standing in their way? Lesley University. The team’s nerves were running high. They were playing the number one team in the conference at their first match – they were all on edge. With such little time to practice as a team, everyone was wondering if it was possible for SVC to pull it off with a win.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t and the team lost the game to Lesley, four to zero. Although the season isn’t over yet, this loss has put SVC in a low ranking spot in the conference, making it harder for them to come back for the playoffs anytime soon.

Even though the team had suffered a great loss, there is enough time for improvements. Moving forward in the season, there are about eight conference games left for the team to catch up in ranking. Head Coach, Michael Zauzig believes that a chance to participate in the playoffs is still highly possible. With matches against teams like Daniel Webster, Wheelock, and Bay Path, that were easy wins last year, SVC women’s soccer team has a good chance of finishing out the season on a strong note.