CAREER RECORD: 17-15-2 (.529)

Gavin Penny begins his third season as the Husson head men’s soccer coach and fifth year on staff in 2018.

OVERVIEW:
Penny enters the season with with a 17-15-2 overall record with a 11-6-1 (.639) record versus conference opponents.
Penny was named the 21st head coach in program history on March 29, 2016, after spending two seasons (2014-15) serving as an assistant coach to Jeff Gettler, third winningest head coach in program history.
During his time as an assistant at Husson, Penny contributed to a winning tradition that resulted in two winning seasons with a combined 21-14-2 record. During his two-year tenure, the Eagles made two conference championship tournament appearances, a North Atlantic Conference Championship, and a berth to the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2014.

RECENTLY:

Under the watch of Penny during his second year, Husson posted an 8-8 overall mark with a 5-4 record in NAC play en route to the fifth seed. The Eagles saw their season come to end with a 1-0 loss to #3 New England College in the NAC Quarterfinals.

Following the regular season, three Husson players garnered All-Conference honors with senior Josh Bellemo earning the program's third straight Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year award, while fellow senior Gage Kennedy collected Second Team acclaim. Senior Saker Ghanayem rounded out the group of All-Conference honorees with a spot on the All-Sportsmanship team.

PAST SEASONS:

2016: In his first year at the helm for the Eagles, Coach Penny led the Green and Gold to a 9-7-2 overall record and a 6-2-1 mark in North Atlantic Conference (GNAC) play. As the #4 seed in the conference tourney, the Eagles defeated #5 Maine Maritime Academy, 1-0, in a NAC Quarterfinal on October 29th to advance to the semifinal round for the eighth time in 14 seasons as a member of the conference. The campaign came to a close with a semifinal loss at top-seeded Thomas College, 3-2 in overtime, on November 1st. With the win over the Mariners, Penny became the first head coach in program history to win a postseason game in their first year at the helm since Nick Benoit in 1999 and the third overall joining Benoit and Milan Kesar.

After the season concluded, junior goalkeeper Cody Gross earned First Team All-NAC honors and sophomore forward  Miguel Caballero was listed on the Second Team, while senior defender Nic Pare was named the Senior Scholar Athlete and junior forward Josh Bellomo was tabbed for the All-Sportsmanship Team.

PREVIOUSLY:

Prior to his arrival at Husson, Penny was an assistant coach with Nyack College for two seasons.

PERSONAL:

A graduate of Nyack College, Penny was a four-year starter and played a key role in both Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship-winning teams in 2010 and 2012, as well as helping the men’s soccer program earn their first NCAA DII National Championship bid in the school’s history.

Penny is a native of London, England, where he grew up playing at many levels. The highlight of his playing career was playing semi-professionally during his teen years. In 2007, Penny made the move to the US to begin coaching for the New York Red Bulls Training programs. He then moved on to become the head coach for two Super-Y League teams at the Ocean City Barons. His spell as a coach was put on hold following his time there to take the opportunity to play at Nyack College. During his time at Nyack, Penny became a man of God who has been involved in several missions’ trips & community service projects. In May 2012, Penny graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Penny is currently a holder of the NSCAA Premier License & NSCAA Goalkeeping Level 2 Diplomas. He also holds an FA Coaching License, as well as a USSF Coaching License.

Penny’s leadership on the field has smoothly transitioned into a coaching role where he hopes to continue learning from his peers and develop his coaching accolades. Penny is also a CPA having most recently worked as a Tax Specialist at Berry Dunn, and an Audit Senior Assistant for Deloitte & Touche.

He and his wife Monique, currently resides in Brewer, Maine with their daughter Althea, and son Nicolo.

Brian Potter enters his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Husson men's soccer team in 2018, working primarily with the goalkeepers.

OVERVIEW:

Since joining the coaching staff prior to the 2015 season, has helped guide the Husson men's soccer program to three winning seasons with a combined 25-21-4 (.540) record and a 16-10-1 (.611) mark in conference play with three straight postseason appearances, while coaching three Conference Senior Scholar Athletes of the Year and six All-Conference, three Conference All-Sportsmanship Team, two Conference All-Tournament Team, 23 Conference All-Academic selections and three Eagle Award winners.

PREVIOUSLY:

Prior to joining the coaching staff, Potter was a four-year letterwinner for the Eagles as a goalkeeper from 2011-14. He helped Husson to four straight NAC Tournaments, while claiming two championship titles in 2011 and 2014.

He set four Husson all-time career records, most games played by a keeper (64), most minutes played by a keeper (5677:09), most saves (396) and most shutouts (18). Potter also posted 38 wins, good for third all-time. He was named to the All-NAC first team in 2011 and second team in 2014 while also earning a spot on the 2014 NAC All-Tournament Team.

Potter was named team captain in 2014 becoming the seventh keeper in program history to earn this honor.

Following his senior season, Potter was named the 2014-2015 Del Merrill Athlete of the Year.

Off the field, Potter was highly involved in community service and campus activities, especially with the Special Olympics and Husson's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

PERSONAL:

In continuing his passion for youth soccer development, Potter served as the Head Coach for Seacoast United Blackbear U18s in the 2016, and has also served as one of the clubs goalkeeper coaches for the past two years.

In 2016, Potter graduated from Husson earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration. He also holds USSF ‘F’, and ‘E’ Licenses. He earned his United Soccer Coaches National Diploma in June of 2017.

A native of Waterville, Maine, Potter attended Erskine Academy.