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The 2008 campaign proved to be quite memorable for the Loyola men's soccer program and head coach Brendan Eitz, as the team opened the season with a victory over preseason No. 5 Santa Clara, the highest ranked opponent the program has ever defeated, before ending the season with its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. With an overall record of 12-6-4 last season, Eitz tallied his highest single-season win total to date, while posting his third straight season with at least 10 wins to bring his career record as men's coach to 40-28-12. In four seasons, he has claimed two Horizon League Tournament titles, one regular-season League title and has coached 12 first or second team all-league selections. Last season, Loyola was ranked as high as No. 24 in the Soccer America Top 25 Poll and No. 25 in the College Soccer News.com Poll, in addition to climbing as high as No. 5 in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes Region Poll. Last fall, Eitz's squad finished with a final season Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ranking of No. 47 and in addition to the victory over nationally ranked Santa Clara, the Ramblers also knocked off No. 8 UIC in the semifinal round of the Horizon League Championship and tied No. 17 Northwestern, before failing to advance on penalty kicks, in the NCAA Tournament. Both Eric Gehrig (Second Team) and Keum Sung Kim (Third Team) earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas All-Great Lakes Region honors and Kim was invited to participate in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Player Combine. Only the second head coach the Rambler men's soccer program has known, Eitz, a former varsity soccer player at Loyola, served 10 seasons as the head coach of the school's women's team before assuming the reins of the men's squad for the 2005 campaign. Eitz is also part of a very exclusive club of coaches that have guided both the men's and women's teams at the same NCAA Division I institution to the NCAA Tournament. In 2007, Eitz piloted the Ramblers to their first-ever outright regular-season Horizon League title as the team posted a 10-5-4 overall mark, including a 5-1-2 ledger in League play. In September, the team captured the championship at the adidas San Diego Classic, posting a 1-0 victory over No. 20 UC Irvine in the first round. Ferguson enjoyed one of the most prolific offensive seasons at Loyola in 20 years, posting 32 points and 15 goals en route to a plethora of honors, including College Soccer News All-America accolades. Iradj Farahmand II was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year after leading a staunch group that equaled a then-school record with 10 shutouts. After the season, Farahmand was drafted in the second round of the Major Indoor Soccer League draft by the Detroit Ignition. Ferguson, Farahmand and Kim earned All-Great Lakes Region accolades as well. Off the pitch, senior Markian Zyga became the first Rambler to ever earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors when he was named to the Second Team. As a team, the Ramblers earned an NSCAA Team Academic Award for compiling a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 and Malcolm DeBaun was named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V. The 2006 season was a dream year for Eitz and the Ramblers as they posted an 11-8-2 overall record and captured the Horizon League Championship and the ensuing automatic NCAA berth for the first time ever. Under Eitz's mentoring, Kim and Farahmand garnered NSCAA/adidas Second Team All-Great Lakes Region honors, becoming the first Loyola players to achieve that distinction since 1993. Farahmand led a stingy Rambler defense that tied a then-school record with 10 shutouts in 2006. Off the field, Zyga became the second Rambler in as many seasons to earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors and he was also a two-time pick as the Horizon League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week during the 2006 campaign. Eleven student-athletes were named to the Horizon League Spring Academic Honor Roll as well, while Loyola was one of 11 teams in the nation to have both its men's and women's squads recognized for the NSCAA Team Academic Award. In his first season as men's coach in 2005, Eitz guided the Ramblers to a 7-9-2 overall record including a 4-3-0 record in Horizon League action. Kim became the first player in Loyola history to be tabbed Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, while also earning First-Team All-Horizon League accolades. In addition, Kim became the first Rambler ever to be selected to the Soccer America National Team of the Week on Oct. 5, while Lee Zarzecki earned an invitation to training camp with Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids. In four seasons under Eitz's guidance, Loyola has posted an impressive 23-12-3 record at home. Off the field, the Ramblers were equally successful in 2005, as they were hailed by the NSCAA with a Team Academic Award. Senior Joe Nierzwicki earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V as well as NSCAA Scholar All-Region honors. The winningest coach in Loyola women's soccer history, Eitz led his 2003 squad to the program's first Horizon League Championship and first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. That season, Loyola capped a Cinderella run through the Horizon League Tournament, becoming the first-ever No. 7 seed to claim the postseason title. Winning the championship at Loyola Soccer Park with a thrilling 1-0 victory over Detroit made it more enjoyable. Along the way, the Ramblers equaled a then-school record by posting seven shutouts en route to a then-school-record 10 victories. Eitz coached three of his players to All-Horizon League honors in 2003. Eitz's charges used the tournament title as a building block, posting their first winning season in 2004 by recording a 9-7-4 mark before bowing out in the Horizon League semifinals on penalty kicks against top-seeded Milwaukee. Success for Eitz and the Loyola women's soccer program was plentiful both on and off the field. Under Eitz's guidance on the field, 19 Ramblers earned all-conference accolades and 14 Loyola players earned all-newcomer team honors, including the 2003 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year. In the classroom, 11 student-athletes were selected to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll in 2002 for having cumulative grade point averages of at least 3.25 and the 2003 squad posted the highest GPA (3.28) of any women's team at Loyola during the 2003-04 academic year. As a student-athlete, Eitz excelled both as a soccer player and as a member of the track team at Loyola. Playing at center back and forward, he scored nine goals and dished out three assists for 21 career points. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Loyola in 1995. Originally from Arlington Heights, Ill., Eitz attended Hersey High School and holds a "B" coaching license from the United States Soccer Federation. He runs several clinics and team training programs in Arlington Heights while serving as the director of Elite Soccer. Eitz started Elite Soccer (formerly Brian McBride Elite Soccer Camps) over 10 years ago with former United States national team player Brian McBride. Also a very active member of the Positive Coaching Alliance, Eitz is a certified PCA trainer within the Chicago area. He resides in Arlington Heights with his wife Tory and their daughter, Ellie. |
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