Middlebury College Men's Soccer

Elias works with the Vermont Olympic Development Program, and in 2014 coached the U17 team to Vermonts first ever Region 1 title for any age group. Prior to working at Middlebury, Elias spent three seasons as the lead assistant and Recruiting Coordinator at Division I LIU Brooklyn. While at LIU, Elias helped mentor a member of the Canadian National Team, an Academic All-American, an All-Northeast Region Player, and three All-NEC Players. During his tenure the team saw high levels of academic success, receiving the NSCAA #1 Team Academic Award for achieving the highest team GPA in the nation for all Division I men's soccer programs in 2012.  During his four-year playing career at Middlebury, Elias played in three NESCAC Championships and captained the 2007 team to a NESCAC title and to the programs first NCAA Championship. Elias received First Team All-American, First-Team All-New England and First Team All-NESCAC honors. He was also named a CoSIDA District I Academic All-American with a 3.71 GPA, landed on the All-NESCAC Academic team in both 2006 and 2007, and received the NESCAC Sportsmanship Award in 2007. Prior to his arrival to Middlebury, Elias was an NSCAA High School All-American, Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year, and was recently inducted into his high school athletic hall of fame.  Following his playing career, Elias engaged in a wide array of non-profit service ventures. He spent a year living in Kimberley, South Africa, working with Grassroot Soccer, a non-profit organization that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Upon returning to the United States, Elias moved to Brooklyn, New York, to teach middle school math as a part of the Teach For America program, a national teacher corps committed to teaching in under-resourced public schools. Elias graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury in 2008, earned an M.A. in Psychology from LIU Brooklyn in 2013, and holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma.

Tim Peng joined the men’s soccer coaching staff at Middlebury in March of 2024 as an assistant coach. AT MIDDLEBURY Helped Middlebury to the NCAA Semifinals for the second time in program history in 2024 Coached 2024 NESCAC Player of the Year Coached 2024 NESCAC Rookie of the Year 1x All-American (2024) 8x All-NESCAC Selections 2x College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Selections AWARDS & HONORS 2024 United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year Helped Babson capture three NEWMAC Tournament Championships Helped Babson win three regular-season NEWMAC titles Member of the Beaver staff that guided the program to four NCAA Tournament berths (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), advancing to the second round in 2021 Helped post a 34-2-10 record during conference action in his five seasons, highlighted by a perfect 8-0-0 record in 2022 COACHING RESUME Assistant men’s soccer coach - Middlebury College (2024-present) Assistant men's soccer coach - Babson College (2018-2024) Head coach/College Advisor - Valeo Football Club in Newton, Massachusetts (2016-2018) EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS Bachelor of Science (Magna Cum Laude) - Psychology with a double minor in philosophy and classical studies - Trinity College - 2018   ATHLETIC CAREER Four-year member of the men’s soccer team at Trinity (2014-2017) 2017 Team Captain at Trinity 2018 Trinity Men’s Soccer High Five City Award Given to the player who exemplifies competitiveness and team spirit 3x All-NESCAC Academic selection Appeared in 34 career matches for the Bantams with nine starts as a midfielder The full history for the Middlebury men’s soccer program can be found here. 

Ben Potter '20 joined the men’s soccer staff as an assistant coach in the summer of 2023. EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS AT MIDDLEBURY Helped Middlebury to second NCAA Semifinal in program history in 2024 2x United Soccer Coaches Regional Coaching Staff of the Year (2023, 2024) 2023 NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year 2x NCAA Quarterfinal appearances (2023, 2024) 2x NCAA Tournament appearances (2023, 2024) 2024 NESCAC Championship appearance 2023 United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award (top-five in team GPA across all NCAA divisions)  4x College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Selections 2x All-Americans (2023, 2024) Coached 2024 NESCAC Player of the Year Coached 2024 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Coached 2023 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year PRIOR TO COACHING Private Equity Associate at Education Growth Partners (2022-2023) Investment Banking Analyst at William Blair (2020-2022) EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS Bachelor of Arts - Economics - Summa Cum Laude - Middlebury College - 2020 Inducted to Middlebury’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Holds a Professional Master in Tactical Periodization (by Vitor Frade) - 2024 ATHLETIC CAREER Captain and three-year starter on the Middlebury men’s soccer team Helped program make three-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and two NESCAC Tournament championship finals Two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American – second athlete in Middlebury history to be a two-time honoree Named Middlebury's Most Valuable Player in 2019 New England Intercollegiate Soccer League (NEISL) All-Star Finished his Middlebury career with 50 starts, tallying 28 points on 11 goals and six assists as well as six game-winning goals Two-time Independent School League Player of the Year at North Shore Country Day The full history for the Middlebury men’s soccer program can be found here.

Leland Gazo joined the men’s soccer staff as the goalkeeper coach in August of 2024. AT MIDDLEBURY Helped Middlebury to the NCAA Semifinals for second time in program history in 2024 Coached 2024 goalkeepers to top-15 NCAA Division III marks in shutout percentage (0.609), goal differential (+41), save percentage (0.846) and team goals against average (0.603) Helped Panthers to third-most total shutouts in Division III (14) 2x College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America and five CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honorees COACHING RESUME Nordic Soccer Club U17 Team Coach (2016-2022) Nordic soccer goalkeeper coach (2016-2022) EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS Bachelor’s Degree - University of Vermont - 2021 ATHLETIC CAREER University of Vermont (2020-2021) Goalkeeper at Saint Michael’s College (2017-2019) Three-year captain at Saint Michael’s College  Played in the USL League Two for Blackrock (2017-2019) Trialed with Parma FC (Serie A Youth Academy) NSCAA High School All-American  2015 Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year  The full history of the Middlebury men’s soccer program can be found here.