Dec. 2, 2009
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Having been selected as the Conference USA Coach of the Year by her peers, UCF women's soccer head coach Amanda Cromwell earned another very prestigious honor when she was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Central Region Coach of the Year. It is the second time in her career she received regional coaching accolades, as she was the Soccer Buzz Southeast Region selection in 2004.
There were a total of eight Division I coaches across the country to receive NSCAA regional coach of the year awards, and the organization will name its national coach of the year at a future date. The Central Region consists of all teams in C-USA and the Big 12.
Cromwell guided the Knights to one of the most successful seasons in UCF Athletics history, as the Black and Gold went 17-5-1 and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation. After going 5-2-1 against the second-toughest non-conference schedule in D-I, UCF posted a 10-1-0 record in C-USA to claim the league's outright regular-season title.
That performance helped the Knights achieve a No. 3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, which was their 14th all-time trip to the postseason, the most of any school in the state of Florida. Those 14 NCAA Tournament berths also ranked in a tie for 15th nationally.
UCF, meanwhile, set a single-season attendance record of 4,601 fans in eight home matches. That included a single-game record of 1,142 which witnessed the Knights upset No. 4 Florida State in overtime.
A former U.S. National Team player and coach, Cromwell holds a 158-68-15 record in 11 years at UCF. The Knights have made eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament during that span, and have won three C-USA regular-season titles in five seasons in the league.
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