Baumann amongst winningest active men's coaches
RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Erick Baumann, entering his 14th season as the head coach of the Dominican University men's soccer program, ranks tenth amongst active college men's soccer coaches and 18th amongst all college men's soccer coaches all-time with a career .777 winning percentage.

Baumann, after inheriting a team that went 5-15 in 1994 before he took over in 1995, has posted 217 career victories in 289 games with just 57 losses and 15 ties. During his tenure, the Stars have averaged 16 wins per season and have reached the 20-win plateau three times (1999, 2003, 2006). In fact, in Baumann's 13 seasons, the Stars have failed to win 15 games just three times, once being the 1995 season when Baumann took a five-win team from 1994 all the way to 11 wins in his first season as a head coach.

"His passion to compete at the highest level and attention to every detail is the one of the reasons his teams are always so strong," said Jeff Halsema, a former player and assistant coach under Baumann and current women's soccer coach at Dominican. "He gets the most from his players not only because they respect his coaching ability but because everyone that plays for him realizes the tradition he has created and wants to continue along that path."

Under his guidance the Dominican men's soccer program has become a perennial national powerhouse having earned six consecutive at-large bids to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer National Championships from 2002 through 2007, including in 2003 and 2006 when his team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

In addition to his national success, Baumann's Stars have dominated the Northern Illinois-Iowa (NIIC), Lake Michigan (LMC) and Northern Athletics (NAC) conferences since 2000. In eight seasons, the Stars have posted a 49-1-1 regular season conference mark, winning seven conference championships, including back-to-back NAC regular seasons championships in 2006 and 2007. In fact, Baumann has not dropped a conference match since October 2004 and is 29-0-1 since their last regular season conference loss.

"I have learned and modeled a ton of ideas after what I have learned from Erick," commented Halsema. "I only hope I can build a program with as much tradition in the future as his."

Baumann's peers have recognized him with eight conference Coach of the Year Awards, including in 1999 when he was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and featured in Sports Illustrated as the NAIA Region VII Coach of the Year. That year, Baumann's squad posted a program best 21 victories with just two losses earning the team's first-ever regional championship and subsequent appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.

Courtesy of Dominican University, Sports Information Department, August 29, 2008.