Dec. 19, 2006

VILLANOVA, Pa. - At its 35th annual awards banquet last week, the Southeast Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association honored Wildcat head coach Ann Clifton as its College Coach of the Year. The awards banquet was held at Williamson Restaurant in Horsham.

Clifton led Villanova to one of its most successful seasons in program history in 2006. The Wildcats won a school-record 16 games and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in six years, where they advanced to the second round. Overall, the team finished with a 16-4-2 record and its .773 winning percentage was the second best in the program's 24-year history.

In her 10 seasons guiding the Wildcats, Clifton has posted at least a .500 record each year and has led Villanova to eight straight winning seasons. Her current run of success has been the most impressive, as the Wildcats are 69-22-18 (.716) over the past five seasons.

The College Coach of the Year Award is named after Chris Jones, a former Villanova coach who is also a past recipient of the award. Jones coached the Wildcat men's soccer team from 1984-1990, winning 50 games during his tenure. He also coached at Sun Valley HS and at Strath Haven. Jones led his Strath Haven teams to the PIAA state finals twice and semifinals four times. He was head coach at Villanova until his untimely death in 1991.

The SPSCA also presented its Service Award, Media Person of the Year Award and Collegiate Players of the Year at last week's banquet. In addition, the boys and girls High School Coach of the Year were honored along with the SPSCA boys and girls all-star teams.

Clifton ends the 2006 season with a career record of 124-61-25 (.650) in her 10 seasons at Villanova. The team's success this season came with due reward, as eight different players during the season received various honors and awards. Most notably, junior goalkeeper Jillian Loyden (Vineland, N.J.) became the program's first player to earn first team All-America honors. Additionally, freshman defender Kelly Eagan (St. James, N.Y.) became the team's first freshman to earn first team All-BIG EAST accolades. Eagan was also garnered All-Mid Atlantic Region honors and was named a freshman All-American by Soccer Buzz.

Prior to her arrival at Villanova, Clifton spent eight seasons coaching at Randolph High School. Her teams there compiled a 146-8-6 record and captured five state championships. Clifton coached 32 all-state players, 10 regional All-Americans and three NSCAA All-Americans during her years at Randolph.

A graduate of East Stroudsburg University, Clifton was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. She was also honored by her alma mater with the Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2000.