Current time in Baltimore 11:39 a.m. Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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Mark Mettrick is in his ninth year as Loyola College's men's soccer coach, having won 98 matches in his first eight seasons with the program. Since his arrival at Evegreen, the Greyhounds have captured six regular season MAAC titles and have advanced to three NCAA Tournaments, playing in the NCAA Round of 16 in 2001 and advancing to the Second Round in 2007. Mettrick also has mentored a pair of MAAC Player of the Year recipients and has earned MAAC Coach of the Year, National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year honors along the way.
Named Loyola's eighth head soccer coach in January of 2000, Mettrick has built upon the rich tradition of Greyhounds soccer and continues to challenge the program with a top-notch non-conference schedule and lofty expectations for the MAAC season.
The Greyhounds advanced to their 14th NCAA Tournament in 2007, capping a highly successful campaign that included a school record for shutouts and three winning streaks of six matches or more. Overall, the 2007 Greyhounds won 19 games, posted 17 shutouts, and won the MAAC Regular Season and MAAC Tournament Championships. Mettrick was named the MAAC Coach of the Year and his team was awarded an NCAA first-round home game. Loyola won that match, a 2-nil shutout of Liberty and advanced to play Maryland in the Second Round. Mettrick's squad battled the Terrapins to a 0-0 shutout and fell in penalty kicks to end a great season.
Likewise, in 2002 the Greyhounds took home the regular-season MAAC title and also earned a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the conference championship match against Marist. Senior Reb Beatty was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year for the fourth consecutive season while Niall Lepper earned MAAC Player of the Year honors under Mettrick's guidance. Both also were named to the NSCAA South Atlantic Regional First Team and the Greyhounds closed out the year with a loss to Furman in the NCAA postseason. A deserving winner of the 2001 NSCAA South Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year award, Mettrick was at the helm for one of the finest seasons in program history. After losing their season opener to California, the Greyhounds went unbeaten in their next 19 games (17-0-2) before falling at No. 2 Saint Louis in the Round of 16. Mettrick also led Loyola to its first MAAC tournament championship since 1996 and the NCAA appearance was the program's first since 1993.
In his first season as head coach in 2000, Mettrick led the Greyhounds to a MAAC regular-season championship and a 12-4-1 overall record. Just as in 2001, his Greyhounds ranked highly in several statistical categories nationally, finishing in the Top 10 in the country in fewest goals allowed. Mettrick, now 43, came to the Evergreen Campus after six very impressive seasons as the head coach at Mount St. Mary's University.
Named head coach at The Mount prior to the 1994 season, Mettrick shaped the Mountaineers' program into one of the finest in the Northeast Conference (NEC). He guided the school to five winning seasons and two NEC championship games, including the 1999 championship game, where the Mountaineers dropped a tough 2-1 decision to UMBC.
Known for developing a rich pool of talent at each of his coaching stops, Mettrick has coached 39 Loyola players to All-MAAC status, including two Players of the Year, a Rookie of the Year and a Goalkeeper of the Year. He had five players named All-NEC following the 1999 campaign at Mount St. Mary's, including the conference's Rookie of the Year and an All-South Atlantic Region team member.
Also a two-time Coach of the Year honoree in the NEC, Mettrick first won the award in 1994, his first season as a collegiate head coach. He led the Mountaineers to an 11-6-2 campaign, including a 2-1 upset of then 14th-ranked Maryland. He then won the award a second time in 1996 after leading the squad to the conference semifinals.
Mettrick, a native of Manchester, England, played for Manchester United (English Premier Soccer League) as a youth. He is a 1988 graduate of Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. An outstanding soccer player in his own right, Mettrick was a two-time NCAA Division I First Team All-America selection for the powerful Harwick men's soccer program in addition to being a Dean's List student.
He currently ranks among the leaders on Hartwick's all-time scoring list with 109 career points, and his 41 points as a freshman in 1984 rank him fourth on the single-season scoring list. Mettrick scored 46 career goals, tying for fourth on the all-time list, including 17 his freshman season.
Following graduation, Mettrick was a first-round selection of the Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), going on to star for that organization from 1988-92. During that span, he helped lead the Blast to two consecutive MISL championship game appearances and earned a nomination to the league's All-Star team in 1992. He then moved on to serve as an assistant coach at Mount St. Mary's in 1993 before taking over the head coaching position the following season.
In addition to his coaching duties at Loyola, Mettrick runs the highly-successful Mark Mettrick Professional Soccer Schools in the summer months throughout the state of Maryland.
Mettrick currently resides in the Wiltondale section of Baltimore County with his wife Jennifer, their son Matthew and daughter Haley.
