Five area college soccer coaches have been recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as regional coaches of the year.
Haverford College coach Shane Rineer received the Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year honor after leading his program to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Fords broke the school record with 18 wins, including a program-best 16 straight wins over a two-month stretch.
The fifth-year coach is a graduate of Eastern University who began his coaching career at Eastern, served as an assistant at Villanova for two years and as an assistant at Amherst before taking the helm at Haverford in 2011. Through five years, he's compiled a 63-30-6 record.
Rider coach Charlie Inverso received the Division 1 honor for the Northeast Region after leading the Broncs to their first NCAA Tournament since 1998.
Inverso took the helm at the Rider program in 2011 after serving as an assistant at Rutgers and prior to that guided Mercer County Community College to five NJCAA Division 1 titles while compiling a 434-46-14 record as coach of the New Jersey community college program.
Millersville head coach Steve Widdowson was named coach of the year for the Atlantic region in Division II. Widdowson, who also serves as an assistant for USL club Harrisburg City Islanders, received the honor for the third time in his nine years helming the Lancaster County program.
The Sheffield, England native led the Marauders to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time with a record of 14-5-1 this season and has compiled a 113-57-11 record during his tenure.
Messiah women's soccer coach Scott Frey was named coach of the year in the Mid-Atlantic region and his counterpart at Rowan, Scott Leacott, received the honor for the South Atlantic region.
Messiah beat Rowan 3-0 in the third round of the Women's Division III Tournament and advanced to the semifinal with a 5-0 win over Swarthmore last weekend.
The regional coaches of the year will be on the ballot for National Coach of the Year, which will be announced during the 2015 NSCAA Coach of the Year Show on Wednesday, December 16.