Led Hornets To Division III Title Game
BALTIMORE, Md. --- Lynchburg College's Chris
Yeager was named the 2010 Division III Men's Soccer National Coach
of the Year Friday evening, announced by the National Soccer
Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) at the NSCAA annual
convention. It is the first national coach of the year award
garnered by any LC athletics mentor.
Yeager led Lynchburg to a storybook season in 2010, capturing the
Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) team title and advancing to
the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament Title game.
After winning its third ODAC title in five years, the unranked LC
squad started the NCAA Tournament at home with a 3-1 victory over
Transylvania University. The Hornets traveled to
12th-ranked Emory University and scored a 2-1
come-from-behind victory in the second round, the farthest the LC
men's soccer team had ever advanced.
A trip to Columbus, Ohio seemed daunting when the Hornets were
faced with the two top teams in Division III, but 2-0 victories
over #1 Trinity and #2 Ohio Wesleyan propelled LC into the national
semifinal. Trailing 1-0 late in the game against sixth-ranked
Bowdoin College, the Hornets scored with two minutes left to tie
the game and won the contest 2-1 in overtime to reach the finals.
Lynchburg led 1-0 against defending champion Messiah College (PA)
in the title game with five minutes left, but the Falcons scored to
force overtime and netted another goal in the extra period to
capture the title. A win would have given Lynchburg College its
first NCAA Division III team title in history.
Yeager has a 103-56-16 (65 winning %) record in his nine seasons
at the helm. LC has had winning seasons in each of the last five
years, and has lost only six regular-season conference games over
that span.
Yeager earned his bachelor's degree from Virginia Wesleyan College
where he was a four-year letter winner in soccer. He was voted the
Marlins' Rookie of the Year in 1990, top Defender in 1992, and Most
Valuable Player in 1993. Also in 1993, he was named VWC's Best Male
Athlete. In addition, Yeager started all 85 games during his
collegiate career and was named to the NCAA Division III All-South
Atlantic Region team in both 1992 and 1993.
Yeager served as an assistant coach at VWC from 1995-1999. During
his time at VWC, the Marlins compiled a 77-21-5 overall record, won
three ODAC championships and appeared in the NCAA Division III
National Tournament four times. He served for two seasons as the
head coach of Hiram College (OH) before accepting the head position
at LC.
This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College Sports Information Department.