By Dean Russin

Sports Editor

Hartwick College turned to Matt Verni to take its women’s soccer program in a new direction.

Hartwick graduate Verni, 31, will coach the Hawks’ women this fall, one year after the team went 5-12-2 for its fourth consecutive losing season under Jonathan Thayil. The Hawks scored 17 times in 2006 and yielded 35 goals for Thayil, who left in December after going 17-49-7 in his four seasons.

Hartwick’s last winning season came in 2002 under former athletic director Ken Kutler, who led the team to an 8-7-3 finish. That marks the only winning record in the last 10 seasons for Hartwick’s women, who named their seventh coach in the 28-year history of the program Monday.

"Based on the stats, I’m obviously not taking over a powerhouse program," said Clinton native Verni, who inherits a squad that went 2-4-1 in the Empire 8 Conference and finished sixth last fall. "I’m very encouraged by the administration, the coaches and the players, though. They’re excited for a fresh start."

Verni played four seasons of men’s soccer under Jim Lennox before graduating from Hartwick in 1998. A former teammate of current Hartwick men’s soccer coach Ian McIntyre, Verni spent the last three seasons as the men’s coach at Division II University of New Haven in Connecticut.

"I’m comfortable taking a program over that hasn’t had that much success," said Verni, who went 16-36-4 with the Chargers, including a 6-11-3 record last season. "I’ve done that before at New Haven."

Verni earned East Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2006, when he led New Haven to a third-place finish out of nine teams with a 4-2-2 league record. That mark included a shootout victory over then 20th-ranked C.W. Post, which finished second in the ECC at 6-1-1. Dowling won the conference with an 8-0 record.

Verni said he informed his New Haven players Monday that he was leaving the program to return to his alma mater. Verni said returning to New York _ specifically to coach Hartwick _ appealed to him and his fiance, 2000 Hartwick graduate Amy Stretton of Lake Placid.[an error occurred while processing this directive]