Dec. 13, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern Head Coach Tim Lenahan has been named the Division I Coach of the Year for the Great Lakes Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Lenahan is now one of eight candidates for the NSCAA Division I National Coach of the Year. The Great Lakes region is composed of schools from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

Lenahan led Northwestern to the program's best-ever season with a 15-6-2 record, a run to the Big Ten Tournament championship match and the second round of the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament.

"The players really made my job very easy this year," Lenahan said."They were so focused and committed to winning. They developed such a chemistry with each other, and I think that chemistry and self-motivation was the primary reason for our success. We also have a great staff and Erik Ronning, Justin Serpone and Ovidio Felcaro deserve much of the credit."

During the 2004 season, Lenahan coached NU to its first-ever victories over eventual national champion and region foe Indiana and top-10 opponent Penn State. The Wildcats finished atop the Big Ten in scoring and featured the league's assists leader (freshman David Roth) and points champion (sophomore Gerardo Alvarez).

The honor is Lenahan's second -- he also earned a NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year nod in 1998 as the head coach at Lafayette College. In his 15 seasons as a head men's coach, Lenahan has received four conference Coach of the Year awards.