Biography

This past season, Joe Finocchiaro led Glastonbury to its third straight Connecticut Class LL state championship. During that stretch, Glastonbury has won 60 straight matches, which is a Connecticut state record.

Finocchiaro, who is a Glastonbury alum, took-over the girls’ soccer program 2009 and has now led his alma mater to four state championship appearances with three titles. This past season, Glastonbury finished No. 2 in the USA TODAY Girls Super 25 fall soccer rankings.

Coach Finocchiaro is the first coach from Connecticut to win the NHSCA National Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year.

Since being honored, Finocchiaro and his girls have won another two consecutive state titles. He holds over 200 career victories.

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Biography

In just her 10th season at the helm, Collins already is a two-time NSCAA National Coach of the Year, having earned the honor in 2004 and 2009. She also was named Group AA Coach of the Year by the Virginia High School Coaches Association in 2010.

The four-time defending AA state champions, Collins’ team, 6-2-4 so far this season, faces the biggest challenge in its history this spring, having moved up to big-class 3A. Entering this season, Collins’ teams have a career record of 172-19-11 and five AA state titles, in 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and a second-place finish in 2004.

The Spartans compiled a 92-3-2 mark during the past four state championship years, including back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 2008 (24-0) and 2009 (23-0-1). They posted 62 shutouts in those four years, outscoring their opponents by a combined 363-47 margin. That run also includes a 57-match unbeaten streak and an 84-match streak against district opponents.

Four of Collins’ teams have allowed less than one goal per game, led by the 2009 team, which allowed just four goals all season. The Spartans’ goals-against percentage of 0.17 that season is a single-season state record, as are their 24 victories in 2008 and 2011.

Since 2012, Collins’ and her teams continue to be triumphant. Broad Run won another championship in 2015, where they shut out Stone Bridge, 3-0.

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Tenney, 67, retired from a 30-year coaching career after leading the Raptors to a 17-1 record and their first-ever Vermont Division IV state championship last fall, the sixth soccer title of his career.

That achievement earned him NSCAA Division II National Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Tenney previously won the award in 2001 at Hanover (N.H.) High, where he coached for 27 seasons. His career record as a soccer coach was 432-79-17, including a 36-12-1 mark in three seasons at Rivendell.

He led Hanover to the state tournament in each of his 27 seasons, never had a losing season and reached the 250-victory plateau faster than any coach in New Hampshire history. His teams advanced to eight state title games and won five state titles. Tenney was named the state’s Coach of the Year eight times, the New England Coach of the Year in 2001 and was inducted into the New Hampshire Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998.

The National Federation of State High School Associations named him its National Girls Soccer Coach of the Year in 2006. Tenney also was a successful girls basketball coach, leading Sunapee (N.H.) High to back-to-back Class S state titles in 2006 and 2007, and led Hanover’s softball team to a state title in his only season as coach in 1983. He will remain the Director of Parks and Recreation for the town of Hanover, a position he has held for 33 years.

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A graduate of Bishop Kelley, who received his bachelors and master’s degrees from the University of Tulsa, Tokarchik has two passions: teaching math and coaching girls soccer, which he has done for the past 11 seasons.

The latter has been obvious, as he led the Lady Comets to state titles in each of his first nine seasons. Those stretched the school’s overall winning streak to 10, a state record in soccer. The first six titles, from 2000 through 2005, were in 4A.

When soccer expanded to six classes the next year Bishop Kelley moved up to 5A, where Tokarchik’s teams added three more titles, in 2006, 2007 and 2008. His teams own an overall record of 172-8, a .956 winning percentage, and built a 50-match winning streak that spanned three seasons, from 2006 to 2009. The state title streak ended in 2009 with a loss in the state semifinals, but Tokarchik’s team started a new streak this year, posting a 17-1 record in the process.

The state’s Coach of the Year in 2003, Tokarchik twice was selected Region Private/Parochial Coach of the Year by the NSCAA and was the organization’s National Coach of the Year in 2005.

Since being honored in 2010, Tokarchik continues to lead the girls of Bishop Kelley. In 2016 the girls’ finished second in the state to Claremore when they lost in overtime. In 2017 they came back with a vengeance and turned the tables. The Comets knocked off Claremore 3-1 to win the state title.

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Prior to 2007 only three teams in the history of Illinois high school girls’ soccer had completed a season undefeated. Under Bergstrom’s direction, Waubonsie Valley accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons. The Warriors finished the 2007 spring season with a 30-0-1 record and won their first state championship, earning the No. 1 ranking in the final 2007 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas spring national poll. The 30 victories matched the state single-season record and Bergstrom was voted the NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year in Girls Division 1.

Last spring the Warriors finished 26-0-1 while repeating as state and spring national champions. This spring, despite the graduation of eight starters from a year ago, the loss of its best player to a knee injury and the end of a 59-match streak without a loss, Waubonsie Valley was 13-3 at press time and ranked No. 1 among Chicago-area teams by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Now in her ninth season, Bergstrom’s career record heading into the postseason stands at 163-42-14. A standout goalkeeper at Northern Illinois University, she still owns a share of the school record for shutouts, posting eight in 1997.

Since being honored, Bergstrom continues to lead Waubonsie Valley. She is now in her 20th year at the helm. In addition, she is the assistant coach for the boys’ team. She has a career record of 332-89-35.

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Racine has been a girls soccer coach for 27 years. His career started with a successful 22-year run at Denville’s Morris Catholic High. From 1981 through 2002, Racine’s teams compiled a 410-58-20 record.  He coached 17 conference championships, 14 state sectional titles, 11 state titles and six Morris County Tournament crowns. Racine left with a career record of 410-58-21.

Also the school’s winter and spring track and field coach, Racine’s spring teams posted a 120-29 record, earning 11 conference titles and four Outdoor Track Parochial B state titles and three Indoor titles.

In 2003 Racine took on the task of building a program at Kinnelon.  After his team won just one of its first eight games and posted a 22-25-5 record through three seasons, the Colts finished a school-record 19-4-1 in 2006 and won their first state title, giving Racine the most state titles (15) of any active coach in the nation. Last year, despite moving up to Group 2, Kinnelon finished 16-4-2 and advanced to the North 1 region quarterfinals, improving his career mark to 467-91-28. He also is an assistant track coach for the Colts.

Since being honored, Racine continued to lead Kinnelon until 2012. He complied a 129-47-17 record, bringing his career record up to 539-138-45.

After a three year hiatus, Racine took over as the head coach again in 2015 and still holds the position.

In addition, Racine has his D. Litt with a concentration in History and Literature  from Drew University.

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In 24 seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas, Giron’s teams have compiled a record of 586-50-12 – second on the national victory list – and won 10 Class 5A state titles, including seven straight from 1993-99. His Raiders also won titles in 1990, 2004 and 2005.

Five of Giron’s teams finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally by the NSCAA, in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2004, and the Raiders own national records for goals in a season (238), consecutive victories (118), unbeaten streak (145), consecutive shutouts (26) and shutouts in a season (29).

Giron received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Athletic Coaches Association and National Coach of the Year honors from the National Federation of State High School Associations in 1997, and was inducted into the Broward Hall of Fame in 1994.

Since being honored, Giron has continued to lead St. Thomas Aquinas to dominance in both Florida and across the nation.

In 2015 Giron added to his list of accolades as the Raiders won their 15th State Championship, in addition to being ranked first in the nation.

Giron retired after the season as the winningest coach in the nation. His career record is 770-72-24. That’s a 90.3 winning percentage.

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Rountree’s 15th season at Douglas was a record-setting one. Her 2006 team finished 23-1-1 and won its fourth consecutive Class 6A state title, becoming the first public school to win four straight in Florida. Her career record is 392-58-32, with 332 of those victories coming at Douglas, and her teams have won 13 consecutive district titles and made 10 appearances in the state’s Final Four.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s South Region Division 1 Coach of the Year in 2005, Rountree was voted Coach of the Year by the Florida Dairy Farmers for the third time in four years.  She is the only coach to win the award in back-to-back years in its 14-year history.

Since being honored in 2006, Rountree stepped down from coaching;  subsequently. In 2018, Rountree returned to Douglas and took over the team once again.

Most recently Rountree led Douglas to the Regional Championships in 2020. Rountree has now amassed over 450 wins in her career. In the spring of 2021, she was named the Bun Sentinel Broward 7A-6A Coach of the Year.

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Taylor, 58, is believed to have won more soccer games than any other American high school coach. A Philadelphia native who played five sports at Friends Central School, Taylor has coached the boys and girls teams at University High since 1979. He earned his 1,000th career victory in October 2003, and his record at the time stood at 1,000-175-105 (.851 winning percentage), with his girls teams earning 554 of those victories. His boys teams have won four North Coast Section Class A state titles, most recently in 2004. He has coached 20 High School All-Americans, including World Cup player Tiffany Roberts and former WUSA star Megan Horvath.

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Jim Burnside of New Trier High in Winnetka, Illinois is the 2004 NHSCA National Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year honoree. Burnside’s troops won a second straight Illinois title with back-to-back undefeated campaigns.

Since being honored in 2004, Burnside has kept New Trier at the top of the class. In addition to the two titles from the early 2000’s, Burnside and Trevian’s won four more in 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Trevians also finished second in the state in 2005, 2017 and 2018.

Burnside has amassed 529 career victories as of the completion of the 2019 season and finished 3rd at the Illinois 3A State Championships.

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“Anytime that a coach leads his squad to over 300 wins in his career it is an accomplishment to be celebrated,” said NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro. “The NHSCA is proud to honor Doug Freeman as the National High School Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.”

Freeman has led his teams at Marlborough High to three state championships and over 300 wins in his 22 years as the girls soccer coach. A member of his state’s hall of fame for soccer coaches, Freeman has led Marlborough to 12 league championships while compiling a winning percentage of 77-percent.

Freeman continued to coach and succeed at Marlborough until the completion of the 2009 season.

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Under McVey’s direction, St. Joseph’s Academy had its best girls soccer season ever, finishing the season with a 28-0-1 record to become the first Missouri team to go through a season unbeaten. St. Joseph’s Academy earned a unanimous No. 1 ranking nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Girls Spring Top 20 and also by Student Sports.com. In a state level, St. Joseph’s Academy won its second consecutive Class 4A state title under McVey, and its fourth in six years. In 2012, McVey led an unranked team to 3rd place at the 4A State Championships and once again was at the top of the podium in 2014.

McVey was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in and was the first woman to be inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.

In 2013 McVey became St. Joseph’s Athletic Director, a position she still holds. In August of 2017 McVey informed St. Joseph’s she was going to be stepping down as the head coach, but she is still walking that hill as the assistant coach.

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In 10 years at Carmel High Dixon has guided his teams to the state’s Final Four nine times, winning titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2000 and finishing second in 1996. This year’s team, which finished 22-1-1, set a state championship-game scoring record in a 5-0 victory over Chesterton High, and was not scored upon in eight state tournament series games. The team was ranked No. 1 nationally at one time during the season. Dixon’s career record is 204-7-12. Dixon was selected the state’s Coach of the Year in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2000, Sectional Coach of the Year by the National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches of Athletics in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and Regional Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association in 1993, 1994, and 2000.

Dixon may have been named the 2001 NHSCA Coach of the Year for girls’ soccer but it didn’t slow him down. Dixon is still leading the Greyhounds on the field and on August 20, 2018 he claimed win number 500. The girls finished the season as the State Runner Up. In 2019, Carmel made another state appearance.

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“James Gardner is an outstanding example for successful high school soccer coaches,” NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro said. “They place a high value on the teamwork skills players learn for success in the classroom and on the field, and we are proud to be honoring him.”

Gardner’s teams at Cheyenne East have been a Wyoming powerhouse for many years. He coached the Lady Thunderbirds to seven Class 4A state titles, including back-to-back state crowns in 1987-88, 1995-96 and 2001- 02.   James also  led them to six state runner-up finishes and a third-place showing. He also is a board member of the Cheyenne Sting club, which helps feed both East and cross-town rival Cheyenne Central High.

Gardner’s teams also are outstanding in the classroom, having been recognized as Academic Team All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America with a 3.71 overall grade-point average (GPA) in 2002 and a 3.53 overall GPA in 2003.

Gardner retired from Cheyenne in 2002 when he took over the Laramie County Community College’s soccer team. Gardner just completed his 18th year at LCCC. He holds a career record of 250-70-28 at LCCC.

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