Joe Ahearn completed his fifth season as the head coach of the Missouri S&T men's soccer team and has continued to lead the Miners to great successon the field, which has included the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament and to the regional championship game during his tenure.
The Miners won a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's regular season title in 2010 with Lewis and eventual national champion Northern Kentucky, who beat the Miners in the regional title game 3-2 on a late goal. The play of the squad throughout the season allowed Ahearn to be named as the GLVC and Midwest regional "Coach of the Year" and as a candidate for those honors on the national level as well.
In the 2010 season, Missouri S&T was one of the top defensive teams in the nation as it recorded 11 shutouts and had the third-best shutout percentage in NCAA Division II. The Miners finished fifth in the nation in save percentage at 86.7 percent and 10th in goals against average at 0.69 for the season in their 11-6-3 campaign that included wins in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament over Bellarmine and the opening round of the regional over Ashland.
Missouri S&T also had two All-America performers during the season -- the first two in the history of the program -- in goalkeeper Pat McNamee and defender Spencer Brinkmeyer and also had two additional all-region performers during the year.
In 2011, the Miners opened the season with wins in seven of their first eight games -- including a win over Northern Kentucky when it was ranked No. 1 in the nation -- and rose to the No. 7 spot in the NSCAA national rankings, the high-water mark in the program's history. S&T beat three nationally-ranked teams during the 2011 season as it finished 10-6-2 overall and 8-5-2 in the highly competitive GLVC.
In the 2009 season, the Miners finished at 7-7-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the GLVC, reaching the conference tournament before falling in the opening round at Northern Kentucky when the Norse scored in the final minute of regulation time. Four of the seven setbacks came to teams that reached the NCAA Tournament and three of those games were decided by one goal.
The Miners finished the 2009 campaign with a 1.40 goals against average as a team and posted five shutouts on the year.
Missouri S&T advanced to the GLVC's post-season event in 2008 after placing sixth in the 13-team league with a 4-4-4 conference mark. S&T dropped its first round game to eventual national semifinalist Northern Kentucky when the Norse scored a goal with less than four minutes to play in the contest.
S&T finished the 2008 season as one of the top defensive teams in the league, allowing only 24 goals on the season with eight shutouts and earned several post-season awards. Defender Andy Held was a third-team all-region performer and goalkeeper Pat McNamee was selected as the GLVC's "Freshman of the Year"; two others earned all-league recognition from the conference.
During Ahearn's first year at S&T, the Miners finished with a record of 7-10-1 but ranked as one of the top defensive teams in the GLVC. Missouri S&T allowed only 19 goals on the season and recorded four shutouts.
Prior to becoming the Miners' head coach, Ahearn spent two seasons at Colgate, a school located in Hamilton, N.Y., and a member of the Division I Patriot League. The Raiders finished the 2006 season with a record of 8-4-5 after going 9-7-3 in the 2005 season, making the Patriot League Tournament in both seasons.
Before joining the staff at Colgate, Ahearn spent three seasons as an assistant coach at DePaul University where he played his collegiate soccer. While on the DePaul staff, he was involved in the day-to-day operations of the program and assisted in game preparation.
Prior to that, he worked as the equipment operations coordinator for the United States Soccer Federation and traveled with the national team to the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. He also traveled with the team when it took part in the Under-20 World Championships in Argentina.
In addition, he served as the associate director of the Chicago City Soccer Camps.
Ahearn is a 2000 graduate of DePaul, where he played in 67 games over his four-year career for the Blue Demons and started in every game in his last three years. He was selected to the Conference USA all-league team as a third-team selection following the 1999 season and was chosen as his team’s most valuable player.
He is the holder of a United States Soccer Federation National A coaching license.
Ahearn and his wife, Katie, have two sons, Frankie and Charlie and a daughter, Annie. They live in Rolla.
