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Brian Brecht enters his sixth season as head men's lacrosse coach at Siena College. In just five short years, Brecht has transformed the Saints into a MAAC Champion and national contender. He is coming off a historic season in which the Saints matched a program record with 12 wins, won their first MAAC Championship and earned the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Brecht won his third MAAC Coach of the Year award in five years this past season as he guided the team to a perfect 8-0 league record and its second regular season MAAC Championship. The Saints went on to defeat Providence and Manhattan in the MAAC Tournament and earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Long Island native, propelled the Saints to new heights in 2007 as he secured the program's first MAAC Regular Season Championship. Siena's 10-6 finish marked its first winning season since 1983, and at the time was only the third 10+ win season in program history. Siena repeated that feat in 2008 and 2009. Brecht has already coached 21 All-MAAC selections. This includes three MAAC Rookies of the Year in the past four years (Matt Girsh - 2006, Brent Herbst - 2007 and Bryan Neufeld - 2009), as well as, the 2007 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Matt Girsh and the 2009 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Viviano. In addition to Brecht's immense success within the MAAC, he has helped the Saints earn national recognition. This past season, junior goalie Brent Herbst became Siena's second All-American honorable mention. In 2008, Herbst led the nation in goals against average and the Saints led the nation in team defense. In 2006, Siena attackman Matt Donovan '07 led the nation in assists, while Girsh ranked fourth in all of Division I for goals per game in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the Saints finished in the top-10 in face-off win percentage and man-up offense. Additionally, the squad broke the top-20 for scoring offense, man-down defense, scoring margin and win percentage. Brecht arrived in Loudonville with a wealth of coaching experience. Prior to arriving in Loudonville, N.Y., he served three seasons as an assistant coach at Loyola College. Brecht served as Loyola's offensive coordinator and worked with the team's extra-man offense, as well as handling the responsibilities of recruiting and scouting. During his tenure, the Greyhounds finished the season ranked in the Top-20 twice, and, in 2003 they won the Colonial Athletic Association Championship with an undefeated 5-0 mark in conference play. Known as an outstanding recruiter, Brecht brought a recruiting class to Loyola that was considered by Inside Lacrosse Magazine to be the second-best overall recruiting class in the nation and the top-rated class of midfielders. During the 2001 season, Brecht worked at Rutgers University and was instrumental in powering the Scarlet Knights to a No. 18 national ranking; the squad's first Top-20 ranking in six years. With Brecht's help, Rutgers had two victories over Top-15 programs that season while he was the offensive coordinator and worked with the team's extra-man offense. As a recruiter, Brecht was successful in bringing a class to Rutgers that earned two trips to the NCAA tournament during their four years. As a defensive coordinator at Army in 2000, Brecht guided the squad to a Top-20 national ranking. While at West Point, Brecht worked under Jack Emmer, who was recently inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame as the all-time winningest head coach. During Brecht's one-year stay, Army finished second in the Patriot League. Prior to Army, Brecht was an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1997-99. While at Penn, Brecht worked under Marc VanArsdale who is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in college lacrosse. Brecht also assisted with on-field coaching, recruiting and scouting, and administrative duties and daily operations necessary of a Division I program in the Ivy League. "Brian's vast coaching knowledge and strong recruiting skills have helped elevate the Siena lacrosse program to a new level," said Director of Athletics John D'Argenio. "I am confident Brian will continue to build upon the success he has already achieved here at Siena." Brecht played collegiate lacrosse at Springfield (Mass.) College, where he graduated in 1995. He immediately jumped into the coaching profession, serving as an assistant at powerful Yorktown (N.Y.) High School. During his tenure, he helped take the team to the New York State semifinals. Soon thereafter, Brecht was hired as defensive coordinator at Division III Hartwick College, where he worked during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. During his time at Hartwick, Brecht saw the Hawks reach a No. 14 national ranking in 1996 and then a No. 8 national ranking in 1997, which included the Super Six Conference title. |
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