Mike Pantalione of Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz., was recognized for the fifth time in his career with the presentation of the 2008 NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year awards, announced Friday Jan. 16, 2009 at the annual NSCAA Awards Banquet, held at the America's Center Ballroom in St. Louis, Mo.

Pantalione moved to second on the all-time list of career National Coach of the Year honors, trailing only legendary Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley, who has six. Aliceann Wilber (William Smith College), Dave Brandt (Messiah College), Dr. Rick Wright (Manhattan Christian College) and Pepe Aragon (Herkimer County Community College) each picked up their fourth. Wilber’s quartet is a record received by a female coach.

The honorees were presented a plaque and a gift by NSCAA President Al Albert and Ernesto Bruce, Sports Marketing Manager of adidas.

NCAA Division I Men – Jay Vidovich, Wake Forest
In his 15th year at Wake Forest, Vidovich led the Demon Deacons to a 21-2-1 record and their third consecutive College Cup appearance. He has compiled a career record of 208-83-28, winning nearly 70 percent of the games he has coached in. The 2007 NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year, he is the first to win the Division I men’s honor in consecutive seasons since Indiana’s Jerry Yeagley in 1998-99.

NCAA Division I Women – Paul Ratcliffe, Stanford
Under Ratcliffe's guidance, the Cardinal went 22-2-1 and advanced to the College Cup for the second time in the program’s history. The season’s only blemishes were to College Cup teams: losses to Notre Dame and UCLA and a tie with eventual national champion North Carolina. The Cardinal finished with the nation's second-best goals-against-average (0.317) and shutout percentage (0.68) and sixth-best scoring offense (2.84 goals-per-game).

NCAA Division II Men – Joe Flanagan, Cal State-Dominguez Hills
Flanagan led his team to a 21-2-4 record and the NCAA Division II national title. In 15 years he has compiled a 226-78-23 record with the men’s program also won National Coach of the Year honors in 2000. He has coached two NSCAA/adidas National Players of the Year.

NCAA Division II Women – Joe Bartlinski, University of West Florida
Bartlinski led his 2008 Argos team to a 24-1-1 record and the NCAA Division II championship game. Their only loss was a double-overtime decision to Seattle Pacific in the title match. His record at West Florida now stands at 152-21-9 in eight seasons. Bartlinski earned back-to-back Junior College National Coach of the Year honors while at Brevard College in 1996-97.

NCAA Division III Men – Dave Brandt, Messiah College
Brandt claims his fourth National Coach of the Year award in this decade after leading his Falcons to their sixth NCAA title in nine years. Messiah was 22-2-2 this season, boosting Brandt’s career record to 246-26-12 in 12 years. His teams earned NCAA tournament bids each of his 12 years and reached the championship game eight of the past nine years.

NCAA Division III Women – Aliceann Wilber, William Smith College
Wilber led her team to a 16-2-5 record and the national semifinals despite a roster that had 14 freshmen and seven sophomores. She claims her fourth National Coach of the Year award and was the first women’s coach to earn consecutive national awards when she received the award in 1987 and 1988 and is the only woman to receive the NSCAA’s Bill Jeffrey Award for long-term service to intercollegiate soccer.

NAIA Men – Melvin Belong, Bethel (Tenn.) College
In only his second year at the helm, Belong guided his team to a 17-5-2 record and the NAIA national championship. The Wildcats closed their season with a 14-game unbeaten streak and outscored their opponents 14-1 during their tournament run. After two years as the Bethel men’s coach, he has a record of 27-13-3.

NAIA Women – Matt Yelton, Lee University
Yelton led his Lady Flames to a record of 24-1-1 and the school’s first team national championship in any sport. Lee is undefeated in five years of play in the Southern States Athletic Conference, with a 51-0-1 record. In seven seasons as Lee’s coach, he has a record of 136-27-4 and a career record of 184-68-9 in 12 seasons.

NCCAA Division I Men – Paul Furey, Mount Vernon Nazarene
Furey took his team to its first NAIA semifinals appearance and only the second by a Mount Vernon Nazarene team regardless of sport. His Cougars ended the season with an 18-4-2 record this fall and were ranked No. 1 in the final NCCAA poll. In 19 seasons, he now has a record of 223-151-28.

NCCAA Division II Men – Dr. Rick Wright, Manhattan Christian College
After winning three of its first eight games, Wright’s team reeled off 20 consecutive wins to successfully defend its NCCAA title with a 23-5 record. During the 20-win streak, they allowed only five goals and logged 16 shutouts. Wright earned National Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and 2007 as well.

NCCAA Division I Women – Josh Lenarz, Trinity Christian College
Lenarz led his team to a 23-2 record and the NAIA tournament semifinals, both program bests. They posted an 18-0 regular-season record, allowing only five goals in that time, and cracked the top 10 in rankings for the first time. Lenarz has a record of 108-50-6 in seven years at Trinity Christian.

NCCAA Division II Women – Dominic Stross, Southeastern University
Stross led his team to its third South Region title and extended its unbeaten streak in the region to 22 games this season. Finishing with a 16-4-1 record, the Fire reached the NCCAA championship game while setting team records for goals, assists and total points. Stross is now 65-17-5 in four seasons at Southeastern.

Junior College Division I Men – Mike Pantalione, Yavapai College
Pantalione claims his second consecutive National Coach of the Year award and fifth overall, leaving him second only to Jerry Yeagley’s total of six in a career. The 2008 NJCAA championship was Yavapai’s seventh title, and the 26-0 record extends Pantalione’s career mark to 443-29-13 in 20 seasons at Yavapai.

Junior College Division III Men – Pepe Aragon, Herkimer County Community College
Aragon guided his team to the 2008 NJCAA Division III National Championship, his fourth in 11 seasons at Herkimer. His tenure at Herkimer includes 11 consecutive Region 3 Championships and a record of 203-19-12. He has received National Coach of the Year honors three other times: 1999, 2000 and 2005.

Junior College Division I Women – Tim Rooney, Lewis and Clark Community College
Rooney led his team to a 27-1 record and the NJCAA Division I national title, the second for the program in the past nine years. The 27 wins is an NJCAA record. Rooney’s career record improved to 267-72-14, and he picks up his second National Coach of the Year honor after receiving the award in 1999.

Junior College Division III Women – Emiria Salzmann, Santa Rosa Junior College
In only her second season at the helm, Salzmann took her team to the California state championship game, ending the season with a 22-3-1 record. The 2007 NorCal Coach of the Year, she now has a record of 37-7-5 at Santa Rosa. She was an NSCAA/adidas All-America for Sonoma State University in 1996.

High School Boys Division I – Larry Waters, La Cueva High School (N.M.)
Waters led his La Cueva team to a record of 22-2 last season, winning his seventh state title. Along the way they established six school records, including wins in a season (22), team goals (122) and shutouts (16). He became the first New Mexico high school coach to reach the 400-win plateau in August. Waters has worked on the NSCAA/adidas boys high school ranking committee for 16 years, serving as its chairman the past 10. He has had only one losing season in 31 years as a high school coach.

High School Boys Division II – Ron Hendrie, North Salem High School (N.Y.)
Hendrie led his team to the state final and a record of 18-3-2 this season. In 17 years as a head coach, he has a record of 251-65-19. His teams have reached the sectional final in 13 of the 17 seasons he’s been coach. He also promotes soccer in the community by offering free coaching clinics and team training for East Hudson Youth Soccer and AYSO.

High School Boys Private/Parochial – Curt Bauer, Santa Margarita High School (Calif.)
Bauer’s team captured their first California Interscholastic Federation regional title with a 25-2-4 record last season, boosting Bauer’s career record to 458-74-73. During that time more than 75 of his athletes played intercollegiate soccer, with eight players advancing to the professional ranks.

High School Girls Division I – Bruce Brown, Grandview High School (Colo.)
Brown’s team claimed the 5A state championship with a record of 18-1-1 and a ranking as high as fifth in the NSCAA/adidas girls spring polls. He now has a career record of 338-113-32 in 30 seasons as the girls coach at Grandview.

High School Girls Division II – Rob Wilcher, T.C. Roberson High School (N.C.)
Wilcher led his team to a state records with 28 consecutive wins and 25 shutouts, and finished as the 3A state runner-up. His squad has reached the state quarterfinals all 13 years he has been at the helm. He has a 288-47-117 record in 13 seasons as the girls coach and claims his second National Coach of the Year award after receiving it in 2002.

High School Girls Private/Parochial – William S. Hawkey, The Pennington School (N.J.)
Hawkey led his team to a 17-0-1 record and the No. 1 spot in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings. In addition to claiming its 14th conference championship, Pennington School has also earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award and was the New Jersey Prep Team of the Year each of the past six years. One of his players, Amber Brooks, was named the 2008 NSCAA/adidas Girls Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Youth Boys – Kevin Smith, Solar Soccer Club, Dallas, Texas
Smith has coached various teams for Solar Soccer Club for 21 years and taken five teams to nationals. He led his Solar 89 boys team to the 2008 national title, a side that also was the first team in Dallas to win the classic league eight years in a row. His teams also have won several Surf Cup and Disney showcase titles, including his Solar 83 boys defeating the National Team in one Disney Showcase final. He has a career record of 311-93-26 in 24 years.

Youth Girls – Ryan Higginbotham, Dallas Texans
The director of coaching for the girls division of the Dallas Texans Soccer Club, Higginbotham oversees all the club’s girls teams and coaches their U-16, U-17 and U-18 Dallas division teams. He led his 91 and 92 girls teams to national titles in 2008. His 91 team won the USYS Region III championship.

High School Assistant Coach of the Year – John Bowen, McIntosh High School (Ga.) A former high school and collegiate head coach, Bowen became the assistant coach at McIntosh High School in the fall of 2007. Since then he has enthusiastically handled the myriad of unseen, unknown tasks that are vital to the seamless operation of a successful program. In addition to his years of coaching in the youth, high school and college ranks, Bowen also has served the NSCAA as a regional chair for the spring high school girls ranking program.

Glenn “Mooch” Myernick College Assistant Coach of the Year – Carson Porter, Wake Forest
Since Porter’s arrival in 2004, Wake Forest has steadily improved, gaining two ACC regular season titles, three consecutive trips to the College Cup and the program’s first national championship in 2007. During his time on staff, the Deacons have compiled an 88-20-11 record and 10 players have been named All-ACC.

NSCAA members log in to comment. Not a member? Learn more today.