St. Clair College women’s soccer head coach Steve Vagnini was recently named the OCAA West Division and OCAA overall coach of the year.
He will be the OCAA nominee for the CCAA Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year which will be announced on Tuesday, November 7 at the Women’s Soccer National Championship Banquet in Prince Edward Island.
After taking time off from coaching, Vagnini returned to the program last year and has directed a significant turnaround this season. The Saints finished in 2nd place in the OCAA West Division this season with a record of 7 wins, 1 loss and 2 ties. The Saints scored 46 goals, allowing only 6 in their 10 regular season games. In the previous year, the St. Clair women finished in 8th place, missing the playoffs with a record of 2 wins, 7 losses and 1 tie after scoring just 7 goals and allowing 21.
The St. Clair women have only one returning player from last season and are arguably the youngest team in Canada with 16 players born in 2005.
The Saints have qualified for the OCAA Final Four Championship this Friday and Saturday at the Ontario Soccer Centre. St. Clair earned their way into the tournament after defeating Niagara 6-0 and Centennial. In their 10 regular season games and 2 playoff games the Saints have an amazing 9 shutouts. This will be the Saints first appearance in the provincial semifinal since 2015, when they earned OCAA Bronze.
The Saints will have their work cut out for them facing the Seneca Sting on Friday at 4 pm. Humber will take on Durham in the other semi-final at 1 pm. The winners will play for Gold on Saturday at 4 pm while the losers will play for Bronze at 1 pm. Seneca was first in the East Division with a record of 9 wins and 1 loss. They are ranked 1st in Ontario and 2nd in Canada. The Saints are ranked 5th in Ontario.
Vagnini has previously won the OCAA West Division and overall coach of the year in 2014, 2015, and 2016. He won the CCAA Coach of the Year in 2015. This is Vagnini’s fifth season as head coach of the women’s outdoor team. His regular season record is 29 wins, 11 loses and 8 ties. In the playoffs Vagnini is 7-4 heading into the Championship this weekend.