Since taking the reins of the Colorado College women’s soccer program in 2004, Geoff Bennett has cultivated a reputation as one of the most respected women’s soccer coaches in the country.
During his 17-year tenure, CC has posted a 171-113-41 overall record, won a pair of conference regular-season crowns and earned three appearances in the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship.
Midway through the 2014 season, Bennett surpassed Dang Pibulvech for first place on the program's career list with 120 victories when the Tigers defeated Colorado State University, 3-2.
In 2018, he became the 80th active women’s soccer head coach to record 200 career Division I victories when Colorado College defeated the University of Houston, 2-1 in overtime, on Sept. 16 at Stewart Field.
An ardent proponent of the growth of the sport, Bennett spearheaded the behind-the-scenes effort that resulted in the program’s affiliate memberships in Conference USA and the Mountain West. In 2015, he trained the team made up of current, former and future Tigers that competed at the World University Games in Gwangju, Korea.
Bennett was named the seventh head coach in program history in 2004, and his hiring paid immediate dividends. In his first season at CC while competing as a Division I independent, he led the Tigers to a 9-5-2 record.
The next year, while playing one of their strongest schedules ever, the Tigers began the season with a 5-0 start and achieved the program’s first Top 25 national ranking in more than a decade.
In 2006, Colorado College posted a 15-6-1 record advanced to the championship game of the C-USA Tournament. Despite falling to UAB, 3-2, in the final, the Tigers earned the program’s ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament, their first in 15 years.
In 2012, Bennett guided CC to a 14-4-5 record, a share of the conference regular-season crown and another at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
The next season, his team posted a 15-4-3 overall record, claimed the Conference USA regular-season and tournament championships, and earned the program’s third NCAA tournament bid since 2006.
On Nov. 16, 2013, the Tigers battled
to Duke University to a 1-1 draw at Stewart Field in front of more than 1,700 fans, which was the third-highest first-round attendance figure that season. Even though the Blue Devils advanced on penalties, Colorado College proved it could compete with any program in the country.
Bennett was voted the C-USA Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season in a ballot of his conference peers.
In 2014, Colorado College took another important step toward its return to national prominence when it joined the Mountain West. Since then, the Tigers have earned a spot in the MW postseason championship in three of five seasons.
In addition to the program’s success as a team, many of Bennett’s players earned conference and national honors, as well as the opportunity to continue their careers at the professional level.
Jessie Ayers, who was named a second-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), became the first-ever Colorado College player to be drafted by an National Women's Soccer League franchise when she was selected by FC Kansas City in the third round of the 2015 College Draft as the 26th overall pick.
On Jan. 10, 2019, Lauren Milliet, a two-time first-team all-Mountain West selection, became the program’s highest draft pick ever when the defending NWSL champion North Carolina Courage took her in the second round as the 14th overall selection.
Several Tigers have scored top conference honors, including Ayers (2011, ’12) and Kaeli Vandersluis (2013), who were named C-USA Midfielder of the Year. Most recently Sarah Schweiss was voted the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2015.
Thanks to Bennett’s unwavering commitment to the academic success of his student-athletes at the elite liberal arts college, CC boasts an impressive list of players who have received academic awards.
During Colorado College’s eight-year run in C-USA, 12 Tigers received the Commissioner’s Academic Medal a total of 23 times for maintaining a combined 3.5 grade-point average. CC also saw 65 women’s soccer players combine for 157 appearances on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for posting a minimum 3.2 GPA during their season.
Since joining the Mountain West, 22 Tigers have earned a combined 33 Scholar-Athlete awards for maintaining a 3.5 GPA, while 36 have combined for 54 appearances on the academic all-conference team for posting a 3.2 GPA.
In all, nearly 75 percent of the players who have worn the black and gold during the 13 seasons of CC’s conference affiliation earned at least one citation for academic excellence.
Prior to his arrival in Colorado Springs, Bennett spent a combined five seasons at St. Bonaventure University and the University of Rhode Island.
He guided the Bonnies to their first-ever berth in the Atlantic 10 Conference playoffs in 1999, and in 2002, his second year at Rhode Island, the Rams won their first Atlantic 10 regular-season title and made their initial appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Bennett, meanwhile, was named league Coach of the Year once at each school.
A 1995 graduate of Hartwick College, where he lettered three years in soccer (1992-94) and earned his bachelor’s degree in English, Bennett eventually returned to the Oneonta, N.Y., campus in 2003 as an assistant coach of the school’s nationally ranked men’s soccer team. The Hawks finished 15-2-1 (.861) that season.
Bennett also was versatile during his own playing career, contributing at both forward and defense. As a junior in 1993, he helped Hartwick reach the third round of the NCAA tournament and finish with an overall record of 16-4-2. He was a fourth-round draft pick of the National Professional Soccer League’s Milwaukee Wave in 1994.
He owns a Premier Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He also has served as a member of the NSCAA Northeast Division I Regional Ranking Committee, the NSCAA Central Region chair from 2006-10, and on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee.
Bennett and his wife, Jessica, are the proud parents of a daughter, Grace.
Bennett's Year-by-Year Record
| Year |
School |
Record (Overall / Conference) |
Notes |
| 1998 |
St. Bonaventure |
8-10-1 / 4-6-1 |
|
| 1999 |
St. Bonaventure |
9-8-3 / 5-4-2 |
Atlantic-10 Tournament / Coach of the Year |
| 2000 |
St. Bonaventure |
5-11-3 / 3-6-1 |
|
| 2001 |
Univ. of Rhode Island |
10-6-2 / 5-4-2 |
|
| 2002 |
Univ. of Rhode Island |
16-6-1 / 10-1 |
NCAA Tournament / Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year |
| 2004 |
Colorado College |
9-5-2 |
|
| 2005 |
Colorado College |
7-8-3 |
|
| 2006 |
Colorado College |
15-6-1 / 6-3 |
NCAA Tournament / C-USA playoff runner-up |
| 2007 |
Colorado College |
10-6-3 / 5-3-1 |
|
| 2008 |
Colorado College |
13-7-2 / 6-4-1 |
|
| 2009 |
Colorado College |
12-6-2/8-2-1 |
Second place finish in C-USA |
| 2010 |
Colorado College |
8-7-4/4-6-1 |
|
| 2011 |
Colorado College |
10-7-3/8-2-1 |
Second place finish in C-USA |
| 2012 |
Colorado College |
14-4-5/8-2-1 |
NCAA tournament/First place finish in C-USA / Coach of the Year |
| 2013 |
Colorado College |
15-4-3/8-1-1 |
NCAA tournament/C-USA regular-season and tournament champion/Coach of the Year |
| 2014 |
Colorado College |
12-5-4/7-3-1 |
First season in Mountain West |
| 2015 |
Colorado College |
9-12-1/6-5-0 |
|
| 2016 |
Colorado College |
8-11-0/4-7-0 |
|
| 2017 |
Colorado College |
6-9-4/3-6-2 |
|
| 2018 |
Colorado College |
9-7-2/5-4-2 |
|
| 2019 |
Colorado College |
10-7-2/5-6 |
|
| 2020-21 |
Colorado College |
4-2-2/4-2-2 |
|
| Totals |
23 Seasons |
219-154-51 / 109-71-22 |
|
