Bailey Named NSCAA/adidas New England Region Coach of the Year
Ravens mentor earns honor for second-straight season and third time in four years
RINDGE, N.H. (December 28, 2005) - 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 in January.
Bailey, the winningest active coach in Division II, has led Franklin Pierce to a 199-14-7 (.921) record over his ten seasons at the helm, guiding the Ravens to the NCAA Division II Final Four nine times and claiming National Championships in 1996, '97, and '99. The region award is the fourth of his career after claiming honors in 1998, 2002 and 2004. Bailey has never earned Coach of the Year honors in either the Northeast-10 or New England Collegiate Conferences.
Bailey led the Ravens to their tenth-straight NCAA New England Regional title this season. Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 3 in the final NSCAA/adidas Division II poll, posted a 19-2-2 record, including a 12-1-1 mark in Northeast-10 Conference play, recording its fifth-straight NE-10 regular season and tournament double. The Ravens reached the NCAA Division II Final Four for the 13th time in 14 years, after a one-year absence, before falling in the semifinals to eventual National Champions University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2-1.
Bailey's squad led the Northeast-10 in scoring (58 goals) and was third defense (0.73 goals allowed per match). Senior forward Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland), who collected NE-10 Player of the Year honors for the second-straight season, led the Conference in scoring (60 pts) and assists (12) for the third-straight year and finished second in goals scored (24). Four Ravens received All-Conference honors and three earned All-New England and NSCAA/adidas All-America accolades. Three of Bailey's players collected NE-10 All-Academic and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District, while senior Elizabeth Allen (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) earned the program's third ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award in the last two years.
Bailey's career winning percentage (.921) ranks behind only University of North Carolina legend Anson Dorrance (.944) 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 75-4-5 (.923) record in six seasons in the Northeast-10 Conference, claiming the last five regular season titles and all six tournament championships since joining the Conference prior to the 2000 season. Overall, Franklin Pierce has posted a 105-4-5 (.943) clip in Conference play under Bailey, which includes four years in the New England Collegiate Conference.
Under Bailey's tutelage, the program has crowned 20 All-Americans, 41 All-New England and 52 All-Conference selections. His athletes have also been exemplary in the classroom, producing 19 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District and five ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honorees. Reader's Digest recognized Bailey as "Best All-Around Coach" as part of its "America's 100 Best" issue in May 2005, naming the 100 best people, places, ideas and innovations found only in America.
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.