|
Montclair
State women’s soccer head coach Eileen
Blair became the newest member of the century club at MSU as she captured
her 100th career victory on September 25 as her Red Hawks
topped
Centenary, 1-0.
Now in
her ninth season, Blair has compiled a 100-55-19 mark joining Rob Chesney
(128 victories) as the only soccer coaches in the men’s and women soccer
history to reach the 100-win plateau.
The
all-time winningest coach in the program history, Blair has taken
Montclair
State to unprecedented levels
since taking over the program in 1998. Following a
7-10-1 mark in he
first year, Blair guided MSU to its first post-season appearance as it won
13 games and qualified for the ECAC Metro Championship. In 2000, she
guided
Montclair to its finest season to that
point as the Red Hawks finished
17-4-2 and won the
ECAC Division III Metro Women's Soccer Championship with a 1-0 victory
over
New York
University at Sprague Field.
The title was the first for MSU, which was making just its second
post-season appearance ever, and Blair was named the 2000 NJAC Coach of
the Year. In 2002,
Montclair attained another first as it
reached the Championship Game of the New Jersey Athletic Conference and
posted a
12-7-2 record.
In 2003,
Blair led
Montclair
State to the conference’s
regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament. For the third
consecutive year MSU advanced to the Championship Game falling to The
College of New Jersey, 1-0.
Montclair would also reach the finals of
the ECAC Tournament.
Two years
ago, Blair guided MSU to its most successful season as her Red Hawks
overcame some early-season struggles, finding its groove down the stretch
going unbeaten in its last nine games. Sitting at
5-7-1 near the latter
portion of the season, MSU reeled off four straight wins to qualify for
the NJAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed. Following a win over Rutgers-Camden
in the opening round,
Montclair went on to defeat No. 2 seed
Richard Stockton in penalty kicks, setting up a third straight meeting
with top seed TCNJ for the conference crown. This time, the Red Hawks
would prevail snapping the Lions’ five-year stranglehold on the title,
winning 3-1 in penalty kicks.
The
championship gave
Montclair
State the automatic berth in
the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in school history.
MSU knocked off
Bay
Path
College, 4-0 in the opening
round before falling to
Messiah
College in penalty kicks. For
her efforts Blair was named the NJAC Coach of the Year for the second
consecutive season and third time in her career. |