Wheaton College

Wheaton College Athletics - Soccer
Haas Athletic Ctr - 26 East Main Street Norton, MA 02766

Division 3 Massachusetts Northeast

Private Small National competitor

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Coaches

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Bryan Waggoner

Bryan Waggoner was named the fifth head coach in program history in January of 2018 after serving as head coach at Randolph College for the previous 11 seasons.

In his first four seasons as head coach at Wheaton, Waggoner has compiled an overall record of 39-28-8 record. Under Coach Waggoner, the Lyons have made a trio of New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Semifinals appearances.

The Lyons mentor oversaw a Wheaton team that was among the best in the region and the nation in 2021 as evidenced by a number 24 national ranking that put the program in the national survey for the first time since 2015. The Lyons posted their highest win total since 2016 and held the distinction of being the only non-New England Small College Athletic Conference school to defeat National Champion Connecticut College when they edged the No. 6 Camels, 2-1. The year was capped by three All-Region selections. The following season, he led Wheaton to a 9-5-6 mark and an appearance in the NEWMAC semifinals. The team was unbeaten in 10 of its last 12 contests, including a tie with Williams College, which eventually advanced to play for the National Championship. The tie gave the Lyons the distinction of being the only non-NESCAC squad to remain unbeaten against two of the four teams to have played in the national title game in the past two years. Wheaton finished the season ranked third in the region by the NCAA.

As a testament to his ability to develop talent since his arrival in Norton, Waggoner has seen six of his players earn All-Region honors, including a pair of First Team selections in addition to a NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Year honoree and eight All-Conference recipients.

Waggoner built the Randolph men's soccer program from scratch when the college transitioned to coeducation in 2007. During his time at Randolph, he guided the WildCats to an appearance in the highly regarded Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament every season since entering the league in 2008. In 2011, he helped lead Randolph to the school's first-ever ODAC championship in a men's sport and its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for a men's athletics program. The WildCats won a school-record 18 games and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 under Waggoner, leading to the mentor being named the 2011 ODAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year.

In 2013, Waggoner was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSIDA) Coach of the Year, as Randolph put together a 17-2-1 mark, while winning the ODAC regular-season crown. In addition, the WildCats were ranked as high as No. 15 nationally in both the United Soccer Coaches (USC) and D3soccer.com polls. That squad became the first team in ODAC history to win 10 league games in a men's soccer season. In 2015, the WildCat's finished second in the ODAC with a 7-1-3 record as part of an overall 13-5-3 record, which included an 11-game unbeaten streak. The campaign was highlighted by a trip to the ODAC Championship game.

Prior to Randolph, Waggoner spent three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Richmond. Waggoner also spent time as the Head Coach at Douglas S. Freeman High School in Richmond, Va., where he compiled a 24-11-8 record over three seasons. In addition, he served as the assistant men's and women's soccer coach for a season at Linfield College in Oregon.

At the club level, Waggoner served as the technical director of the Virginia Capital Area Soccer League, where he analyzed, evaluated, and trained teams throughout the club system. In addition, he was the Head Coach of the Under-18 Boy's Elite team, guiding it to five tournament championships and a Final Four standing in the State Cup.

Waggoner is a 2002 graduate of the University of Richmond and was a four-year letterwinner for the Spiders. He served as team Captain his senior year under Head Coach Jeff Gettler, who coached former Wheaton men's soccer coach Matt Cushing at the University of Massachusetts. Waggoner earned the Coaches Award for his leadership skills his senior season and graduated from Richmond with a degree in Sociology.

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Andrew Schaefer

Andrew Schaefer begins his fifth year on staff with the Wheaton College men’s soccer program as a full-time Assistant Coach.

The Allentown, Pennsylvania native comes to Norton after serving as Assistant Coach for two seasons at his Alma Mater, Randolph-Macon College. Schaefer has helped lead the Lyons to a 30-18-7 record during his time in Norton. Wheaton finished the 2021 season ranked number five in the final Regional Rankings and also made an appearance in the national poll. The 2022 season saw the Lyons advance to the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Semifinals and earn a number three ranking in the NCAA Regional survey. Schaefer has primarily worked with the offense during his time in Norton and oversaw the first Lyon to be named NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Year since 2017.

Prior to Randolph-Macon, Schaefer spent the 2016 season as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Cabrini University helping the Cavaliers to a CSAC Finals appearance.

Schaefer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Economics from Randolph-Macon in 2016. He was a four-year member of the varsity soccer team, serving as a Captain during his junior and senior years and garnering Old Dominion Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference honors in 2015 and 2016. In his final season, Schaefer led the Yellow Jackets in goals. He earned a Masters of Science in Leadership from Cabrini University in 2020.

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Thomas Gatanis

Thomas Gatanis enters his second season with the Lyons after joining the program in 2022.

Gatanis spent five years with Wheaton as a player from 2015-19 and graduated from the Norton campus in 2020. The midfielder established himself as a two-year starter for the Lyons, despite battling multiple knee injuries throughout his career. For his perseverance, he was the 2020 recipient of Wheaton's Lynn Miller Inspiration Award. The New York City native saw time in nearly 50 matches for the Lyons and helped them reach the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals as as senior.