University of North Carolina - Greensboro Men's Soccer

UNC Greensboro announced on July 30, 2019, that Chris Rich has been named men’s soccer head coach. In six years, Rich has led the Spartans to four Southern Conference regular season titles, two Southern Conference Tournament championships, two NCAA Tournament appearances and many national rankings. Rich's sixth season saw him lead the Spartans to his fourth SoCon Regular Season Championship after concluding the regular season with a 3-2 victory over ETSU in Greensboro on Nov. 2, 2024, for a share of the regular season crown with ETSU. UNCG went on to finish 8-0-2 at home, marking the first undefeated season at home since 2002. Senior Yoshiya Okawa and freshman Issah Haruna highlighted seven All-SoCon honorees as the SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Freshman of the Year, respectively. Additionally, Okawa, Steven Hernandez and Seth Wilson earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® recognition for their efforts on the pitch and in the classroom. In his fourth season, Rich led the Spartans to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. UNCG finished the season with a 13-2-6 record, which matched the previous season in terms of wins but was outlasted it once again in the discussion of winning percentage (.762). Additionally, JC Ngando was named an All-American, making Rich's second student-athlete to accomplish the feat at UNCG. Marco Milanese was also named to the Academic All-America second team. His third season at the helm saw the Spartans continue to raise the bar as they set another benchmark for winning percentage when they finished with a 13-4-1 (.750) mark. UNCG won The Southern Conference regular season crown for a second time under Rich and reached the semifinal round of the conference tournament. Leading UNCG on the pitch, Theo Collomb became Rich's first student-athlete to be named an All-American at UNCG. In goal, Niclas Wild earned his first of two back-to-back honors being named The Southern Conference Goalkeeper of the Year. Rich's second season saw the Spartans win the Southern Conference Tournament championship and host a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the Spartans received votes in the final United Soccer Coaches poll of the 2021 spring season. UNCG finished with a 9-3-2 record and a .714 winning percentage, the best since 2005 (.717). Rich coached five players who earned All-SoCon recognition, including Collomb, who was named the Co-Freshman of the Year. Nationally, UNCG ranked 12th in total goals (27) and corner kicks per game (6.79), 19th in goal differential (+13), 20th in shots per game (14.64), 22nd in total points (73), 23rd in scoring offense (27), 30th in shots on goal per game (6.14), 32nd in winning percentage (.714), 33rd in total assists (19), 42nd in shutout percentage (.429), 43rd in points per game (5.21) and 49th in goals against average (.958). In his first year, he led the Spartans to a Southern Conference Regular Season title in 2019, finishing with a 9-9-1 record, while going 5-1-0 in conference play. Entering the SoCon tournament as a No. 2 seed, UNCG reached as far as the conference final after defeating No. 6 Belmont in the semis. Senior Casey Penland earned the Spartans' first SoCon Player of the Year honor for the first time since 2015, with six players receiving conference postseason honors in all. Coach Rich's squad ranked second in the SoCon with a goals against average of 1.29, while shutting out five squads over the course of the season. Penland also earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors in his first season under Coach Rich, later signing a contract with USL club Charlotte Independence.  Rich spent the previous 12 years as an assistant coach, with his three most recent stops being at Atlantic Coast Conference schools Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. Success In The ACC Over the past three seasons, Rich served as assistant men’s coach and recruiting coordinator at Duke, where he helped guide the Blue Devils to two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances and finishes in the top 15 of the final United Soccer Coaches poll. During that span, Duke also garnered 12 All-ACC selections including six last season, the most earned by the school in a single season since 2001. Additionally, the Blue Devils had a combined five players selected in the Major League Soccer Draft in 2017 and 2018. In his role of recruiting coordinator, Rich secured three top-12 Top Drawer Soccer national recruiting classes while the men’s soccer team maintained a 3.3 cumulative team GPA. During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Rich was an assistant coach for North Carolina’s men’s soccer team, aiding in all aspects of running the program including recruiting, scouting, video analysis, practice and game preparation, and operations. In those two seasons, the Tar Heels won a combined 30 games and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. In 2012 and 2013, Rich also served as an assistant coach with Virginia Tech where he oversaw scouting of opponents along with the development of First-Team All-ACC selection Kyle Renfro. Renfro was only the second Hokie to earn First-Team All-ACC honors. Starting At His Alma Mater Before A Move To Division I Rich began coaching in the Division I ranks in 2011 as an assistant coach at Florida International after spending four seasons at Barry (2007-10) – his alma mater -- as assistant coach. While on Barry’s coaching staff, Rich was instrumental in the Bucs making two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, Barry set a new program-record with four All-American selections. Rich is also a scout for United States Soccer Federation and has been a national instructor for United Soccer Coaches since 2011. He earned his B.S. in Sport Management from Barry in 2006 and his M.S. in Sport Management from Barry in 2009, and is married to his wife, Korie Rich. Year W L T PCT W L T PCT Postseason 2019 9 9 1 .500 5 1 0 .833 SoCon Regular Season Champions SoCon Finals 2020-21 (Spring) 9 3 2 .714 3 1 2 .667 SoCon Tournament Champions NCAA Tournament 2021 13 4 1 .750 5 1 0 .833 SoCon Regular Season Champions SoCon Semifinals 2022 13 2 6 .762 4   0     1 .900 SoCon Regular Season Champions SoCon Tournament Champions NCAA Tournament - Elite Eight 2023 2 10 5 .265 1 2 2 .400 2024 10 2 5 .735 3 1 1 .700 SoCon Regular Season Co-Champions TOTALS 56 30 20 .623 21 6 6 .727 4x SoCon Regular Season Champions 2x SoCon Tournament Champions 2x NCAA Tournament Appearances

O'Keefe was been hired as associate head coach in January 2026. He comes to UNCG after taking a break from college coaching, becoming a licensed FIFA agent for the past three years. During this time, he continued to recruit and scout the top youth players and work with a dozen professional players representing them. O' Keefe joins the staff with over 20 years of coaching experience in the collegiate ranks.   During his head coaching career, O'Keefe was at the helm of the men's soccer program at Robert Morris from 2020-2022, where he led the Colonials to the post-season with back-to-back Horizon League playoff berths. He was head coach at App State from 2016-2020 and led the program to 24 clean sheets and beat several top 20 programs. In 2019, O'Keefe also had the most wins (11), which was the most wins since 2002, eight shutouts, which was the most since 2011, a win over North Carolina for the first time since 1980 and the first time posting back-to-back winning seasons since 2011-12. O'Keefe also mentored eight All Sun Belt award winners, including the Co-Player of the Year, in 2018 Jake Chasteen and Defensive Player of the Year Zeiko Harris in 2019.  Prior to his stint as head coach at Appalachian State, O'Keefe spent two years as an assistant coach at North Carolina with Head Coach Chris Rich. During his two years in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels made the NCAA Tournament twice, advancing to the Elite Eight in 2014.     Between 2010 and 2013, O'Keefe served as an assistant coach at Saint Louis University, where he helped the Billikens claim a pair of Atlantic 10 championships and a berth in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.  O'Keefe was named the United Soccer Coaches Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012.    Prior to joining the coaching staff at Saint Louis, O'Keefe served three seasons at Elon from 2007 to 2009. He was an assistant coach for two years before being promoted to associate head coach for his final year with the Phoenix. In 2008, Elon claimed its first Southern Conference Regular Season Championship in program history.    During his three seasons with the Phoenix, O'Keefe recruited and coached four student-athletes that went on to earn SoCon major awards, including Chris Thomas, who was selected as the 2009 SoCon Freshman of the Year as well as the SoConPlayer of the Year in both 2010 and 2012.    O'Keefe has also had coaching stops at Greensboro College (2000-02), Wake Forest (2003-05) and Cincinnati (2006). In his lone season with the Bearcats, he helped Cincinnati post its first Big East Championship in program history and berth in the NCAA Tournament.  O'Keefe began his coaching career at Greensboro College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1997. In his three seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, the Pride claimed two Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season titles and three tournament crowns.    While a student-athlete on the men's soccer team at Greensboro College, O'Keefe helped the Pride earn a share of the 1994 Dixie Conference title, as well as the South Region Championship in the 1996 NCAA Division III Tournament.  

UNC Greensboro (UNCG) head men's soccer coach Chris Rich has announced the addition of Peter Merritt to his staff as an assistant volunteer coach on Dec. 15, 2021.   Merritt joins the Spartan program from Averett University where he served as an assistant coach for two years.   "We are excited to add Peter to our coaching staff," Rich said. "He comes highly recommended after a successful stint with Averett. We know that he'll be a great asset to our players and program as we continue to take steps forward and compete for championships."   While pursuing a master's degree in business administration at Averett, he helped the program achieve back-to-back appearances in the USA South Conference Semifinals.  Merritt assisted the development of student-athletes on and off the field. He helped multiple student-athletes achieve All Conference honors as well as aiding in the overall Team GPA growth of 2.7 to 3.2.     Merritt came to Averett following a four-year playing career at N.C. Wesleyan College from 2016-19. A center back, Merritt helped the Bishops win three USA South regular season crowns, two conference tournament titles and make two NCAA Tournament appearances. He was a three-time USA South Academic All-Conference performer.   In addition to his collegiate playing career, Merritt has coached multiple youth and ID camps at multiple levels.   A native of Huntersville, North Carolina, Merritt graduated from N.C. Wesleyan in 2019 with a degree in business administration and marketing.    "I am excited and thankful for this opportunity to be joining this prestigious program," Merritt said. "I look forward to helping bring more success to the program."