Montclair State University Women's Soccer

Naughter begins his seventh season as the head coach of the MSU women's soccer program and in his short time has re-established Montclair State as both a contender for both New Jersey Athletic Conference championships and NCAA Division III Tournament berths. Through his first six seasons, Naughter has led the Red Hawks to a 90-22-9 record, including the three top seasons since the programs inception in 1990. His .781 winning percentage is the best and his teams have won 70 of its last 87 games and he also has two NJAC titles, three conference regular-season crowns and a quartet of NCAA Tournament appearances. Also during that span, Montclair has made MSU Soccer Park one of the toughest places to play as it has won 40 of its last 51 home games. Last year was just another of what has become the norm for MSU. The Red Hawks registered a 15-4-2 mark, its fourth consecutive 15-win season and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. For the fourth time in as many years, Montclair advanced to the second round defeating Springfield College before falling to perennial national contender Messiah College. In 2014, Montclair finished 19-2-2 and won the NJAC championship for the second time in three seasons in thrilling fashion topping The College of New Jersey in penalty kicks. The Red Hawks, who went 8-0-1 in league play, made their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and reached the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. Ranked in the NSCAA and D3Soccer.com national polls throughout the year, MSU dominated the All-NJAC Team with seven selections including Midfielder of the Year Melissa Koster, who was later named an All-American by the NSCAA. Montclair State also had three players named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team, the most by one school, as Gina Policastro and Jessica Bonjione were named to the First Team while Catherine Zysk was a Second-Team pick. Three years ago, Naughter guided the Red Hawks to the most successful season in the 24-year history of the program as Montclair went 20-1-1, setting a single-season mark for victories while also establishing a new program mark for consecutive wins. MSU won its first 18 games and recorded the 10th undefeated regular season in Montclair State athletic history. In addition the Red Hawks captured the NJAC regular-season title for a second straight year and reached the Sectional Tournament of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship for first time. MSU also reached a program-best No. 5 in the NSCAA national rankings during the year and was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III South Atlantic Regional Rankings heading into the national tournament. Montclair also spent several weeks at No. 1 in the D3Soccer.com Top 25. Montclair, which went 9-0 in the NJAC for the first time, was one of the top teams statistically in Division III leading the nation in goals against average at 0.18 allowing just four in 22 contests while posting 19 shutouts, another program record. The Red Hawks tied William Smith for the national lead in shutout percentage at 0.864. Naughter was named the NJAC Coach of the Year for the second straight time and he also garnered the same honor as the NSCAA Division III South Atlantic Coach of the Year. In addition, MSU placed seven players on the All-NJAC Team and produced the second NSCAA All-American in program history as Bonjione was chosen to the First Team. In addition, three MSU players Bonjione, Alison Wacker and Policastro were named to the prestigious Capital One Academic All-America Team. In 2012, Naughter guided the Red Hawks to a 16-2-3 campaign, the 16 victories the second-highest season total at the time which also included an 8-1 mark in the NJAC Montclairs best since joining the league in 1994. For just the second time in its history, MSU earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and made the most of its opportunity knocking off Richard Stockton and Kean in penalty kicks to win its first league title since 2004. The championship sent the Red Hawks to the NCAA Division III for the first time since 2006 reaching the second round. Montclair finished the year ranked in the national polls and also excelled in the classroom earning academic honors from the NSCAA. Naughter was named the NJAC Coach of the Year and it would be the first of many awards for MSU in 2012 as it placed seven players on the NJAC All-Conference Team while also claiming the leagues Rookie of the Year. In addition, four Red Hawks landed four players on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region Team. The selection of the four doubled the number of players that MSU had named All-Region by the NSCAA prior to 2012. Named the fifth head coach in the history of the program in July 2010, Naughter began his Montclair State coaching career on a good note guiding the Red Hawks to an 8-7-3 record which included eight teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The following year with one of the top recruiting classes in program history, Montclair State finished 13-5-2 with the 13 wins the most since 2006 while matching the third-highest victory total in school history. The Red Hawks finished third in the NJAC at 6-2 advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament while placing six players on the All-NJAC squad. MSU also reappeared in the NCAA Regional rankings for the first time since the aforementioned 2006 campaign. Naughter is no stranger to Montclair State having played for the Red Hawks from 1996-1999. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the mens team. Naughter, who has served as a coach with NJ Crush the last two years, returned to Montclair State after spending the previous 12 years as a girls coach on the club level. He spent five years (1998-2003) with the Wyckoff Torpedoes U-18 squad that was a semifinalist in the 1999 State Cup as well as finalists in the Virginia Tournament three times. More recently Naughter has been a coach in the Parsippany Soccer Club U-18 and U-13 levels over the past nine years. In addition Naughter spent three years as the head coach for the boys soccer team at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, NJ. He compiled a 40-12-6 record (.769 winning percentage) during his tenure and led the Highlanders to the NJSIAA North 1, Group 3 Sectional Final in 2009 in addition to capturing the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League (NBIAL) championship. Northern Highlands qualified for the Bergen County and NJSIAA State Tournaments each season under Naughter and he was selected to coach the 2008 Bergen County and the 2009 State All-Star Games. Naughter has also worked with the New Jersey Olympic Development Program as a staff coach and was a Players Development Academy (PDA) coach for U-17 and U-11 teams. Naughter played four seasons for the Red Hawks helping Montclair to a 43-27-10 mark as a standout out defender. MSU made two appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament (1996 and 1998) and was the runner up for the ECAC Metro Championship in 1997. He scored two goals during the 1998 campaign and was an integral part in a defensive unit that allowed just 13 goals during a 14-3-3 campaign. Naughter, a Special Education teacher at both Northern Highlands and Bloomfield High School, earned his bachelors degree from MSU in 2002 in history and later obtained his masters degree from New Jersey City University in 2006.