Queensbury Middle School math teacher Jason Gutheil is in California collecting an award for coaching college soccer.
Gutheil has been an assistant coach for The College of Saint Rose women’s soccer team for the past 24 years. The College of Saint Rose women's soccer coaching staff has been named Division II Women's Soccer East Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches Association.
He has been on the pitch assisting his wife, Laurie Darling Gutheil, who has been head coach of the Golden Knights for 28 seasons.
“She’s turned the program — which had been through three coaches in three years — into a team that’s been ranked in the top 5 in the country for 14 of the last 16 years,” Jason Gutheil said of his wife. “We’ve been fortunate. We’ve been to eight final fours. In 2021 we lost in the national championships. And we won a national championship in 2011.”
Laurie Darling Gutheil, who was also named the Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year this fall, finished this season with 428 career victories, according to the college’s website.
Coaching soccer has been a part-time gig for the couple. Jason Gutheil teaches math at Queensbury Middle School, and his wife teaches history at South Glens Falls High School.
At Saint Rose, he has been training the team’s goalkeepers and defenders since 2005, and is heavily involved in recruiting and game analysis in addition to skill development and tactics, according to the school’s website.
His insights have produced three All-American goalkeepers. Six of his keepers have also garnered All-Region accolades, four have earned Northeast-10 Conference All-League honors, and three have been named the NE10 Championship Most Outstanding Player, according to the college.
Jason Gutheil has also been part of seven NCAA National Semifinal (Final Four) teams, nine NE10 regular-season sides, and eight NE10 Championship Tournament squads, the college reported on its website.
He is also the head varsity baseball coach at Queensbury High School.
The Golden Knights staff guided Saint Rose to a 20-0-2 record in 2023, marking the first team in program history to reach 20 victories without a defeat.
In December, The College of Saint Rose announced its plans to close the college. The news was devastating for Gutheil and his wife, who was also named the Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year this fall.
“It’s been extremely difficult the last month,” he said. “We were ranked No. 1 in the country for the last month of the season, and then ended up losing in a shootout in the Sweet 16.”
That loss came the day after the players learned that the school will close at the end of the spring 2024 semester.
“All of our freshmen, sophomores and juniors pretty much became like seniors in their final soccer game,” Jason Gutheil said. “They all have to find a new home if they want to continue playing college soccer. So, it’s been very traumatic, it’s been very gut-wrenching, obviously for me, but more so for Laurie. She’s dedicated her entire life. It’s been really hard.”