Stoia Earns NSCAA Regional Honor
December 09, 2014 04:21 PM | General
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Lisa Stoia was a four-year (2000-03) letterwinner and All-America at WVU under coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer associate head coach Lisa Stoia has been named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
The honor is the second career NSCAA award for Stoia, and her first as a member of the central region. The Shirley, New York, native was named the NSCAA/Mondo North Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010.
“I am truly honored to accept this award from a pool of talented coaches, and I appreciate the nomination by my peers,” said Stoia. “Not one person is deserving of this recognition on her own. There is a lot of heart and pride put into the WVU women’s soccer program daily, and that makes this a staff and team award. This honor is not possible without (head coach) Nikki Izzo-Brown, (assistant coach) Marisa Kanela and (volunteer coach) Zach Johnson, as well as the hard work our entire staff.
“Nikki continues to teach me the values of hard work, and this award reflects those lessons. She is a true mentor and leader, on and off the field, and I can say that I have played for, worked with and continue to learn from one of the best in the business.”
Stoia helped guide the Mountaineers to their third straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title and second consecutive Big 12 Championship title in her eighth season at her alma mater. She coached freshman Michaela Abam to Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors and saw a conference-best nine Mountaineers score an All-Big 12 honor. WVU earned its 15th consecutive qualification for the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to her coaching duties, Stoia also heads up the program’s recruiting efforts, including on-campus visitations, scouting, team travel throughout the season and the squad’s Nike Elite allotment.
“This is a great award that recognizes all of Lisa’s hard work that she puts in daily to help further the success of this program on and off the field,” said Izzo-Brown, the NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year. “She continues to focus on improving the Mountaineer program and furthering each student-athlete’s success. I am glad that others have seen the value in her hard work. I am very fortunate to work alongside such a tremendous coach and friend.”
Also announced today was the final NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s National Rankings, and WVU checked in at No. 15. The Mountaineers have ranked in the top 15 of the coaches’ poll’s final rankings in consecutive seasons (No. 12 in 2013) and have earned a spot in the final poll in three of the last four years.
National Champion Florida State is No. 1, while Virginia is No. 2 and Stanford is No. 3. Texas A&M and UCLA round out the top five.
The Mountaineers also rank No. 15 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Final Rankings.
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