Guided the Ravens to the Northeast-10 Championship and a berth in the NCAA quarterfinals

RINDGE, N.H. (December 13, 2010) – Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer head coach Craig Stewart was recently named the 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Mondo East Region Coach of the Year after guiding the Ravens to one of the best seasons in program history. It marked the second coach-of-the-year award for Stewart in 2010, as he earned the same honor from the Northeast-10 Conference back in November.

In just his second season as the head coach of the program, Stewart guided the Ravens to a 17-2-2 record, the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament championships, a No. 1 national ranking midway through the season, the No. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Super Region 1, a berth in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals and a final No. 6 national ranking in the NSCAA National Top-25 Poll.

“I’m very honored to receive this award,” said Stewart. “However, it’s not just an individual award, but a staff award. David Maddock and Tom McNeil have been tremendous in their efforts and I can’t thank them enough in helping to add to the rich tradition that is the Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer program. The players that we coach are the real reason for this award. If it wasn’t for their dedication and desire to get better each day, then we wouldn’t have had the season we had.”

This year’s conference title was just the second Northeast-10 championship in program history and the first since 2006. Overall, it was the program’s fourth conference tournament championship as an NCAA Division II member, including winning the NECC titles in 1991 and 1995. Franklin Pierce’s trip to the national quarters marked the first time since 2007 the team made it to the final eight.

In only two years as a head coach, Stewart has compiled a 30-7-5 record with a pair of trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. He has mentored six players who have earned All-America honors, eight who have earned All-East Region honors and 11 who have earned all-conference recognition (including 2010 NE-10 Player of the Year Tom Reilly). In each of his first two seasons in Rindge, eight Ravens have garnered All-NE-10 accolades.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).