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Keith Byrnes
The upcoming 2023 season will mark the 22nd year as Head Coach of the Frostburg State men's soccer team for Keith Byrnes.
In 2022, Byrnes led the team to a 4-9-5 record with wins over Alderson Broaddus, Seton Hill (Pa.), and Concord. Two of the four wins for FSU came by a four goal margin.
Off the field, coach Byrnes saw 6 players receive All-MEC Academic awards for having above a 3.7 GPA (Joel Assal, Ethan Boland, Galo Cappalletti, Bryce Costello, Isaiah Dell, and Kenneth Simms Jr), and 12 players received Commissioners Honor roll awards as well.
Heading into the 2021 season, Keith Byrnes will enter his 20th season as the head coach of the Bobcat men's soccer team. In 2020, Byrnes led the team to a 2-6 record with wins over Wheeling and Alderson Broaddus. In the Bobcats 2 wins, they outscored opponents 5-1. He coached sophomore Gage Adam to a All-MEC 2nd team nod.
Off the field, Byrnes had 4 players receive All-MEC Academic spots for having over a 3.7 GPA (Bryce Costello, Isaiah Dell, Randy Putnam, Malek Shedid) and 5 Commissioners Honor Roll recipients.
Keith Byrnes enters his 19th season as head coach of the Frostburg State men’s soccer program in 2020 and has led the Bobcats to a 172-140-35 overall record. He is the second-winningest coach in the 79-year history of the Frostburg men’s program.
Over the last nine seasons, Byrnes has guided the Bobcats to 75 wins, 22 ties and four appearances in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament (2011-13 & 2015).
Frostburg posted six wins, one tie and four shutouts in its first season at NCAA Division II in 2019. The Bobcats posted five wins in the league and finished in sixth place.
From 2010-18, FSU posted 32 wins and 10 ties in the Capital Athletic Conference and earned seven berths in the CAC Tournament. In 2011, Byrnes was named the CAC Coach of the Year after leading Frostburg to an 11-3-5 overall record and 4-2-2 league slate.
Over three seasons from 2017-19, Frostburg posted 22 wins despite loading its schedule with several nationally and regionally-ranked teams. In 2018, FSU was eliminated from the CAC Tournament on PKs by 12th-ranked Mary Washington, while in 2016, the Bobcats nearly knocked off eighth-ranked Kenyon after surrendering a late lead.
Frostburg emerged as one of the top defensive teams in the nation following the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In ‘15, the Bobcats finished eighth in the nation in save percentage (.883) after ranking second nationally (.909) following the ’14 campaign.
In 2015, Frostburg was 21st in DIII in team goals against average (.64) and 35th in shutout percentage (0.50). FSU finished with nine shutouts, including four in the CAC. The Bobcats also opened the season with five shutouts in their first six games.
At the other end of the field, Frostburg finished second in the CAC in points per game (5.94) and second in scoring offense (2.22).
In 2014, Frostburg captured fifth DIII in team goals against average (.45) and 16th in shutout percentage (.58). FSU, which finished 10-6-3 overall, posted 11 shutouts, including five in the CAC.
In 2012, Byrnes guided Frostburg State to a 10-0-3 start, one of just 11 NCAA Division III schools to open the season undefeated through the first 13 contests. FSU finished 2012 with a 12-3-4 overall record.
Prior to 2010, Byrnes guided his Bobcats to eight-straight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal appearances and back-to-back ECAC South Region Tournaments in 2007 and 2008.
The Bobcats posted an overall record of 83-66-10 in Byrnes’ first eight years at the helm. During that stretch, 36 players earned All-AMCC honors and Byrnes was named the league’s coach of the year in 2008.
In ‘08, Byrnes eclipsed the 100-win plateau for his career with an ECAC Tournament first round win over Washington & Jefferson (1-0). He also guided FSU to the most wins in a season since taking over the program in 2002 (14-5-1) and the most wins since the Bobcats won 16 games in 2000.
In 2007, the Bobcats won six of their final eight games, including a run to the ECAC South Region Championship game. FSU also set the school’s single-game scoring record with a 16-0 defeat of Mt. Aloysius.
Byrnes came to Frostburg after a two-year stint as the coach at Plymouth State (N.H.) College, where he led the Panthers to a 29-11 overall record, a pair of post-season appearances and Little East Conference Player of the Year honors in both years.
In his first season at Plymouth State, Byrnes guided the Panthers to Little East Conference regular-season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. PSC advanced to the second round and finished with a 15-5 overall record.
Byrnes then led the Panthers to a 14-6 overall mark in 2001, finishing as the runner-up in the LEC and winning the ECAC New England Tournament Championship.
A 1995 graduate of Plattsburgh State (N.Y.), where he played four years for the Cardinals, Byrnes was an assistant coach at his alma mater for one season before serving as an assistant coach at Norwich University for two years. He helped Norwich win a school-record 17 games in 1999, capture the Great Northeast Athletic Conference and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Byrnes’ career as a player included three NCAA Tournament appearances and two State University of New York Athletic Conference championships. He was also a SUNYAC All-Academic Team selection all four years.
Byrnes has his national license from the NSCAA and his “B” license from the USSF. He has also been very active in the local community as he is the Co-Director of Frostburg State Soccer Camps and is the Head Coach for the Far West Region of the Maryland State Youth Soccer Associations District Development Program.
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