Clinton Field

Clinton Field: Home of the Army Men's and Women's Soccer Teams

Clinton Field and Team Room Photos

Clinton Field at West Point is named after Revolutionary War hero Gen. James Clinton. As one of New York’s most distinguished military leaders during the colonies’ fight for independence, Clinton commanded troops throughout the Hudson River Valley, including stops at Fort Clinton, Fort Montgomery and West Point.

It was at West Point in 1778 where Gen. Clinton and his men began to throw chains across the Hudson to prevent enemy ships from traveling up the river.

One of Clinton’s most important missions began in November of 1778. Upon receiving orders at West Point from Gen. George Washington, Clinton left for Albany to join forces with Gen. Sullivan. Their mission was to help the colonists seek retribution against Indian and Tory armies who had massacred the villages of Cherry Village, N.Y., and Wyoming, Pa. Clinton’s and Sullivan’s forces eventually defeated their enemies in an intense battle in Elmira, N.Y., forcing them to flee to the British fortress in Niagara.

This battle was one of Clinton’s last as he immediately returned to Albany and remained there until the end of the war. However, he  would later find himself alongside Washington during the British surrender at Yorktown and was later present at the evacuation of New York by the British.

After exiting his military career, Clinton took an active role in politics serving as a member of the convention called to ratify the Constitution of the United States. Clinton was also elected a member of the New York State Senate.

The Army women’s soccer team has called Clinton Field home for the past 22 years and have enjoyed unparalleled success on the pitch as a result.

Army has authored a .625 overall winning percentage along the banks of the Hudson and a .625 winning mark at the Division I level.

In 2009, the Black Knights blanked four visitors to the military academy, running their mark of home shutouts to 47 over 16 seasons. Before 1992, Army split its home games between North Athletic Field and Clinton Field.

It did not take long for the Black Knights to warm up to their new digs in the fall of 1993. Army etched out a 9-1-1 home mark for a season-best .864 winning percentage inside West Point’s iron gates. The Black Knights won their first Patriot League crown en route to a program-best 20-1-1 campaign, which saw them record a school-record 14 straight wins and shut out their first nine opponents.

Army has posted a winning season at home five of the past six seasons, including an unbeaten campaign in 2001. Two years later the Black Knights forged a 7-2-0 mark on the strength of a six-game home winning streak through September.

The 2006 season season was the first time that Navy pulled out a victory at West Point since 2000, while Air Force suffed a 2-1 defeat in just its second trip to West Point. The Falcons are 0-2 at Clinton Field, while the Black Knights are 5-3-2 all-time against their service-academy counterpart in games played on post.

Army compiled an 13-8-3 mark at home the past three years to include seven shutouts.

Always a home to the Army men’s soccer team, Clinton Field also hosted the USA Rugby Championships April of 2006, then underwent sod replacement that spring in providing both soccer squads with brand new grass on which to play. The two teams combined for nine wins between them in breaking in the new turf.

Clinton Field’s first reconstruction project took place in 1996, which moved all of the men’s and women’s soccer games to the North Rockland Sports Complex.

With 10 light stacks and six seating bleachers, Clinton Field is one of the top soccer facilities in the Patriot League and a favorite venue for visiting teams.    

Both the men and women will be hosting  Patriot League stalwarts Navy, American and Lehigh in 2010.

Clinton Field has also been host to five Patriot League Tournaments, twice with the men and three times with the women. Additionally, both the men’s and women’s soccer squads host early-season tournaments on a regular basis, which attracts some of the top teams in the Northeast and from around the country.

The women are 102-59-11 all-time at Clinton Field and have averaged over five wins per campaign in the 21st century on the friendly confines. Army headed into last season just three victories shy of reaching the century mark in home wins which it accomplished under first-year coach Stefanie Golan following a 5-3-1 mark to show 102 wins. 

Golan, the associate head coach for two years under long-time mentor Gene Ventriglia, was  chosen to replace him following his retirement at the conclusion of the 2008 campaign. It proved to be one of the finest seasons in school history as the Black Knights made their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Patriot League title.

Ventriglia had patrolled the sidelines for 23 years after presiding over the Black Knights’ elevation from club status to a perennial Patriot League contender as the first  coach in the program’s intercollegiate history.

Army has crafted winning soccer squads who have defended their home turf quite well, and Golan has proven to be just the coach to continue the Black Knights’ storied heritage. 

Army West Point Athletics

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