Dec. 28, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - After leading the UMass men's soccer team to its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, head coach Sam Koch was named the NSCAA/adidas Mid-Atlantic Region Coach Of The Year. Each regional coach of the year is automatically on the ballot for the NSCAA National Coach of the Year who will be named on Jan. 16. This is the second straight year that Koch has been named a finalist for the national coach of the year award.

Koch has been at UMass for 18 seasons and has compiled a 197-132-32 record in Amherst. He is a 24-year head coaching veteran with an overall record of 255-185-48 with his first six years on the sideline at Stanford (1984-89). He is the all-time winningest coach at UMass, has led the Minutemen to all three NCAA Tournament appearances in program history and led the squad to the 2007 NCAA National Semifinals. UMass has won four Atlantic 10 regular-season titles and two A-10 Tournament titles in his tenure. Koch is also a four-time A-10 Coach of the Year honoree after being named the league's top coach in 2008.

Nationally, Koch ranks among the top-20 active coaches in career wins.

At UMass, the Concord, Mass. native has produced two All-Americans in Jeff Deren (2001-02) and Zack Simmons (2007); a two-time Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year; a two-time Student-Athlete of the Year (Simmons); the league's Defensive Player of the Year (Simmons); the league's Midfielder of the Year (Ben Arikian); two Atlantic 10 Rookies of the year; two Atlantic 10 Tournament MVPs; 19 All-Region selections; 58 All-Atlantic 10 players; 27 Academic All-Atlantic 10 honorees; and 20 Atlantic 10 All-Tournament picks.

The regional coaches of the year are selected based on a vote of their peers within their region. In NCAA play, any coach who is not selected a Regional Coach of the Year but advances to the national tournament semifinals is added to the ballot for National Coach of the Year.

The national awards will be announced at the annual NSCAA Awards Banquet, which will be held Friday evening, Jan. 16, in the Grand Ballroom of the America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Mo., as part of the 2009 NSCAA Convention.

NCAA Division I Men
Far West: George Kuntz, University of California-Irvine
Great Lakes: Joe Baum, Michigan State University
Mid-Atlantic: Sam Koch, University of Massachusetts
Midwest: Bob Warming, Creighton University
North Atlantic: Mark Mettrick, Loyola College (Md.)
Northeast: Dave Masur, St. John's University
South: Jay Vidovich, Wake Forest University
South Atlantic: Sasho Cirovski, University of Maryland
Additional finalists: Elmar Bolowich, University of North Carolina

The Minutemen finished the season 10-8-3 overall and 7-1-1 in the Atlantic 10 earning the league's Regular-Season Championship. For the first-time in program history, UMass earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, but fell to Harvard in the first round. It was the third NCAA Tournament berth in program history.

UMass will return 21 players from this season's squad including eight starters. The Minutemen will also return three of its top four point scorers from this season and the bulk of the midfield and defensive back row for 2009.