KANSAS CITY, Mo. - University of Connecticut men’s soccer coach Ray Reid has been named the 2014 NSCAA East Regional Coach of the Year, as announced by the coaches association on Monday.

Reid will be presented with his award at the College Coaches reception at the NSCAA National Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday, Jan. 15 in the Marriott-Liberty Ballroom. The ceremony will run from 5-6 p.m., and as a regional award winner, Reid is now eligible for the national coach of the year award. That honor will be announced at the College Highlights show later this month on Dec. 16. 

Reid, who earned his 400^th win this past season in his 26^th year as a head coach, led the Huskies to their 13^th-ever regular season conference championship and their first one in the American Athletic Conference in 2014. UConn finished the season unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 matches, and Reid and his staff were tabbed as the conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

Four Connecticut players received major conference awards under Reid for a Husky team that finished first in the conference in shutout percentage (0.47) and second in goals against average (1.01). UConn reached the conference semifinals for the fourth straight season, and the Huskies allowed a league-low three goals in conference play this fall.

Off the field this season, former UConn men’s soccer player Tony Rizza (1983-86) announced a pledge of $8 million to transform the Connecticut soccer complex on Oct. 13. Rizza’s donation marked the largest gift in UConn athletics history, and Reid announced that he would be the first donor to support Rizza’s match, adding his own donation of $100,000. UConn, a perennial leader in attendance each year, ranked third among Division I schools in average attendance (3,541) in 2014.   

Reid’s 400^th win came in a 3-1 victory at home over Temple at home on Oct. 22. With the win, Reid became the 16^th Division I head coach to reach the coaching milestone, and the UConn coach (404-103-64) currently ranks second among active coaches in winning percentage (.764).

Under Reid, UConn has won nine regular season conference titles and four conference championships since the former Southern Connecticut coach arrived in Storrs in 1997. Last season, the Huskies defeated top-overall seed UCLA in last year’s NCAA Tournament to become the only Division I school to reach the NCAA quarterfinals in each of the past three years, and in January former Connecticut standout Andre Blake became the first goalkeeper to ever be selected No. 1 overall in the MLS SuperDraft. A total of 32 Connecticut players have been picked in the MLS Draft throughout Reid’s tenure.

In 2000, Reid was named the national coach of the year after leading the Huskies to their third-ever National Championship. He was recognized as the Division II National Coach of the Year three times (1990, 1992, 1994) throughout his eight-year coaching career at Southern Connecticut.

Below are the other regional coaches of the year from Monday’s announcement.

East                        Ray Reid              UConn
Far West              Jeremy Gunn     Stanford
Great Lakes        Elmar Bolowich Creighton
Midwest              Aidan Heaney    UNC-Wilmington
Northeast           Erica Da Costa    Quinnipiac
South                    Ian McIntyre      Syracuse
Southeast           Kevin Langan     UNC-Charlotte
West                     Rich Ryerson      UNLV   

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