Press Releases

February 19, 2001
Winningest Coach Resigns

Ed Goodhines to Resign

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Southampton College Athletic Director Mary Topping announced today that Coach and Associate Athletic Director Ed Goodhines was resigning. Having turned softball and men's and women's soccer teams into champs, he is the College's all-time winningest coach.

The Athletics staff bids Ed Goodhines farewell.

"I'll leave here with fond memories and always have a place for Southampton in my heart," said Goodhines, a 1983 graduate of the College. His future coaching plans are uncertain at this time, but Goodhines says he is heading to Virginia to pursue a business venture. "I feel that I've accomplished all that I can here, and it's time to try something new," Goodhines added.

Goodhines is known as a master recruiter, motivator and mentor. "His players were devoted to him as a person," Topping said. "He'd say, 'go out and win,' and they would do it just for him. There are not a lot of coaches who can do that."

Most recently, Goodhines' men's soccer teams won back-to-back New York Collegiate Athletic Conference titles with a combined 15-0-1 league record the past two years. In 1999, the team made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament - Southampton College's first Tournament berth in any sport since men's basketball did it in 1972. His men's soccer career record is 114-62-9.

Goodhines helped lead Colonial softball teams to NYCAC titles in 1991 and 1992, co-coaching with fellow Associate Director Cindy Corwith. Their softball record was 46-27. Also, he was women's soccer coach from 1983-1993, compiling an 87-76-16 record, five playoff appearances and an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division II title in 1990. Every team he had taken over had previously struggled for years in the conference basement.

Goodhines' greatest success, however, came in recent years when he organized one of the country's top college soccer programs at Southampton, a liberal arts college with about 1500 undergraduate students and a rustic setting. The coach would recruit players from as far away as Scandinavia - last year's team had 11 Swedes, for example - and, by being a friend sometimes as much as a coach, keep them here for their whole four years. Under Goodhines' mentorship, All-American Johan Kron, the College's all-time leading scorer, and Nick Rotiroti, who now plays professionally in Europe, led one of the Northeast's most-feared teams in 1999. This past season with those key players graduated, All-American goalie Roger Svensson led the charge toward a second league crown. He's considered a possible Major League Soccer selection this spring.

Meanwhile, Colonials teams under Goodhines command were also dedicated to their schoolwork. The Colonials led the conference with a 3.28 GPA this past season. In 1999, they were best with a 3.32.

"It's going to be a tough job to fill," Topping said of the vacancy. "Ed really was everything you could want in a coach."