MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Dec. 19, 2023) – West Virginia University men’s soccer head coach Dan Stratford has been named the TopDrawerSoccer National Coach of the Year.
In his fourth year as head coach of his alma mater, Stratford led the Mountaineers to a program-record 17 wins and WVU’s first-ever appearance in the College Cup. The Mountaineers came in at No. 3 in the final United Soccer Coaches poll and had Top-25 wins this season over Marshall, Portland, Loyola Marymount, Vermont and Louisville.
Stratford is 42-16-15 during his tenure in Morgantown and is 103-20-20 in seven seasons as a head coach which includes two Division II National Championships while leading the University of Charleston.
Under his tutelage this season, Stratford coached sophomore Marcus Caldeira and senior Yutaro Tsukada to All-American seasons. Additionally, Caldeira, Tsukada, senior Luke McCormick, senior Jackson Lee and junior Frederik Jorgensen were each named All-Southeast Region as well as All-Sun Belt.
The Mountaineers scored the fifth-most goals in the country with 47 while allowing just 0.958 goals per contest, the third time in four seasons under Stratford that WVU has allowed less than one goal per game.
It is the second time the Mountaineer men’s soccer head coach has earned national honors as Marlon LeBlanc was named Coach of the Year by Soccer America and FieldTurf in 2006. Stratford was a star player for the Mountaineers during that season.
Press Release Courtesy of West Virginia University Athletics Communications
