STANFORD, Calif. – For the second consecutive season, Stanford men's soccer head coach Jeremy Gunn has been named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Far West Region Coach of the Year, the association announced Monday.
The award is the second coaching accolade of 2015 for Gunn, who also won his second straight Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor on Nov. 17 for the superb work he has done with the Cardinal this season.
In his fourth year at the helm, Gunn has led the No. 7 Cardinal (16-2-2) to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Stanford meets No. 1 Wake Forest (17-2-2) at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. ET with the winner earning a trip to the College Cup.
Gunn took over the Cardinal in 2012 when the program was coming off a 6-10-2 finish and in four short years has catapulted Stanford among the nation's elite. The team's 16 wins thus far are tied for fifth in program history and the Cardinal's 7-1-2 record in Pac-12 play set a school record for league wins. Stanford, which has won back-to-back Pac-12 championships, is 29-5-5 over the past two seasons. The Cardinal's seven-point cushion at the top of the Pac-12 table this year was the third-largest margin in conference history, only surpassed by nine-point gaps for the champions in 2011 and 2003.
Sunday's 3-1 win over No. 14 Ohio State in the third round of the tournament finished up an unbeaten home record for the Cardinal. Stanford went 10-0-2 at Cagan Stadium in 2015 and is 19-1-6 in its last 26 matches at its iconic field.
Gunn has already led Stanford to three straight seasons of 10 or more wins, becoming the third coach in program history to accomplish the feat along with Bobby Clark (1996-2000) and Nelson Lodge (1978-83). Its stretch of three consecutive postseason berths is the second longest in Stanford history behind a six-year run from 1997 to 2002.
Earlier this season the Cardinal went 66 days in between losses and its 15-match unbeaten streak was the second-longest run in program history (1996-97). Its Nov. 2 setback at Washington also snapped a 16-match unbeaten run in conference games dating back to last season, a stretch which is tied for 17th in NCAA history.
In four seasons on The Farm, Gunn is 48-20-10. Postseason accolades are nothing new for Stanford's head man. He was named the NSCAA National Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading Charlotte to the College Cup final. That national award this year will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
