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Gary Book
After a nationwide search, Gary Book was announced as the ninth head coach of the Adelphi men's soccer program, effective May 21, 2018. He enters his fifth season is 2022.
Book's four years have seen the Panthers pick up from where former coach Carlo Acquista left off.
The 2022 campaign saw Adelphi's return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. A pair of clean sheets against regional contenders Post and Wilmington to open the year led the way for a 9-5-6 finish for the Panthers. With Book's squad on the tournament bubble, Adelphi was the last team into the big dance as the No. 10 seed in Super Region I.
In Book's inaugural season (2018), Adelphi went 17-4-2 and captured an NE10 Tournament Championship, just the program's second since joining the league back in 2009. The Panthers would earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and dispatched LIU Post, 2-0, in the East Region final, before falling to eventual national runner-up West Chester by a 2-0 final in the national quarterfinals.
Then, in 2019, Book's squad opened the season on an unprecedented 15-game unbeaten streak (14-0-1), en route to receiving the No. 1 national ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Poll for the first time in program history. That ultimately led to Book getting his first-ever nod as the NE10 Coach of the Year. Despite bowing out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Adelphi finished the season at 15-3-1 overall and came away with its fourth-consecutive NE10 regular-season title.
Book came to Adelphi with over two decades on Division I sidelines, having spent 13 seasons at Hofstra University as both an assistant and associate head coach. Prior to his time in Hempstead, Book was an assistant coach at St. John's University from 1992-2004.
"It is a tremendous honor and I am humbled to be selected as the next head men's soccer coach at Adelphi University," Book said. "The program has a rich tradition of success, and I am proud to follow in the steps of Mel Less, Bob Montgomery and Carlo Acquista. I am extremely excited to be a part of furthering that incredible heritage of accomplishment, both on and off of the field. I would like to thank President, Dr. Christine Riordan, and Director of Athletics Danny McCabe for giving me this opportunity."
While with the Pride, Book's teams won four Colonial Athletic Association Tournament titles and three CAA regular-season championships. These teams posted a record of .500 or better in 10 seasons, including six consecutive, with Hofstra holding a 120-94-37 record, since Book joined the staff in 2005, and helped lead the Pride to three NCAA Tournament berths.
At St. John's, Book was an assistant coach on the 1996 squad that captured the first national championship in Red Storm history in any sport. His teams also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in all 13 seasons, with nine appearances in the Sweet 16 and three Final Fours. In addition, St. John's captured five Big East regular-season championships and six Big East Tournament titles.
"We are thrilled to welcome Gary Book as our next head coach to the Adelphi soccer family," McCabe added. "Gary has dedicated his life to the game of soccer and over the past several years, he has done that right here in the New York metropolitan community. He has a great knowledge of the game, to go along with a stellar reputation as a teacher and leader. Gary shares our goal of providing the best possible experience for our student-athletes."
Book graduated from the University of Winchester, England with a bachelor of education with honors in Human Development and Coaching. He has also served as a staff coach with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA, now United Soccer Coaches), the technical director of the Long Island Junior Soccer League, and the director of the Olympic Development Program of Eastern New York.
Book's Year-by-Year Coaching Record
1 NE10 Championship, 4 NE10 Tournament Appearances, 1 NE10 Final Appearance, 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances
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