Seventh-year mentor earns second region award after claiming 11th straight Final Four

RINDGE, N.H. (December 10, 2002) - Franklin Pierce women's soccer head coach, Jeff Bailey, has been voted the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas New England Region Coach of the Year by his peers. Bailey is now eligible for NSCAA/adidas Division II Coach of the Year accolades to be announced at the Association's winter convention.

Bailey, the winningest active coach in Division II, has led Franklin Pierce to a 138-8-4 (.933) record over his seven seasons at the helm, guiding the Ravens to the NCAA Division II Final Four each year and claiming National Championships in 1996, '97, and '99. The region award is the second of his career after claiming his first Coach of the Year honor in 1998. Bailey has never earned Coach of the Year honors in either the Northeast-10 or New England Collegiate Conferences.

Bailey did arguably his best coaching job of his career this fall, leading the Ravens to a record 11th straight Final Four, a seventh-straight New England regional crown, a third-straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title and their second-straight NE-10 regular season championship with an 18-1-2 record overall, 12-0-2 in Conference play. The Ravens accomplished this despite losing nearly 55-percent of their offensive output from the 2001 season, forcing them to adopt a more defensive oriented style.

Franklin Pierce still led the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 3.24 goals per match, an average that was 1.15 goals per match lower than the previous season. The Ravens defense limited opponents to just 0.57 goals per match, which led the Conference and ranked among the best in Division II. Franklin Pierce opened the season with a record six consecutive shutouts and did not yield more than one goal in a match until a 3-1 loss to University of Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA semifinal.

Bailey's career winning percentage (.933) ranks behind only University of North Carolina legend Anson Dorrance (.943) among all collegiate soccer coaches regardless of division or gender. In 2001, he claimed his 100th career victory in just his 108th match coached, just two shy of the record for all of college athletics. Bailey has led the Ravens to a 37-1-4 (.929) record in three seasons in the Northeast-10 Conference, claiming the last two regular season titles and all three tournament championships since joining the Conference prior to the 2000 season. Overall, Franklin Pierce has posted a 67-1-4 (.958) clip in Conference play under Bailey, which includes four years in the New England Collegiate Conference.

Under Bailey's tutelage, the program has crowned nine All-Americans (minus this season which has yet to be announced), 28 All-New England and 36 All-Conference selections. His athletes have also been exemplary in the classroom, producing seven Verizon Academic All-District (a record four this fall) and two Verizon Academic All-America honorees.

Franklin Pierce recognized Bailey for his efforts as a student-athlete (a four-year letterwinner and All-American from 1989-92) and coach when he was inducted into the College's Athletics Hall of Fame in October, 2000.