With almost a decade at the helm of the Barry University men’s soccer program, Steve McCrath is one of the top coaches in collegiate soccer. In nine seasons with the Bucs, McCrath has compiled an impressive 116-39-12 overall to make him the winningest coach in Barry history and the second winningest active coach in the Sunshine State Conference with a .731 percentage.

With five appearances in eight years in the NCAA Tournament, the Bucs are no strangers on the NSCAA national poll. After only two seasons of 10 or more wins in the first 14 years of the program, the Bucs have not won less than 10 games under McCrath.

In his first season in 1998, McCrath led the Bucs to the first of three straight NCAA Tournament bids. In 1999 and 2000, the Bucs were selected to host the NCAA National Finals where they advanced to the championship game in 2000, a four-overtime thriller with Cal State- Dominguez Hills that went down as one of the most exciting finals in tournament history.

Jon Samford became the Bucs’ first All-American in 1999, while Alen Marcina, who picked up the first of three straight awards, and Andy Hylton carried the torch in 2000. Hylton was also an Academic All-American in both 1999 and 2000 and earned the SSC Player of the Year award for leading the team to the title in 2000.

The Bucs set a school record in 2000 with 17 wins, but came back in 2001 and 2002 to set marks for winning percentage by going 14-1-3 and 15-2-1. Marcina, who owns the school records for goals and points, was the first of three straight SSC Offensive-Players-of-the-Year in 2002, while Greg Jehs was tabbed as the top defensive player. Avi Scabini took home the 2003 award after tying the school mark for career assists (32), while Ricardo Raposo set the school mark for points (50—18 goals, 14 assists) to win the 2004 award.

In all, McCrath has coached 42 All-SSC picks, six SSC Players-of-the-Year, 23 NSCAA All-South Region picks, and all 10 of the Bucs’ All-Americans.

The Bucs posted undefeated seasons at Buccaneer Field in both 2001 and 2003, winning 11 matches at home in 2003 to establish the school record. Overall in the friendly confines, McCrath has a 63-18-4 mark for a .765 winning percentage.

Several McCrath disciples have gone on to play professionally, including Marcina, Hylton, Jehs, Marco Velez, and Jacobi Goodfellow (the 2000 Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the national finals).

McCrath came to Barry from Seattle Pacific University, where he served as an assistant to his father, Cliff McCrath, from 1995-97. The elder McCrath is the winningest coach in NCAA Division II soccer with 590 victories and has guided the Falcons to five NCAA Division II titles.

A highly decorated player and coach, the younger McCrath was a four-year letterman at Seattle Pacific. He helped the Falcons to the 1986 NCAA Division II national championship and was captain of the 1989 squad. As a senior, he earned First-Team NCAA Division II All-Far West Region honors. During his four-year career at SPU, the Falcons recorded a 60-20-8 overall record and advanced to NCAA post-season play three times.

He played professional soccer with the Seattle Storm of the Western Soccer League and later signed on with the indoor Milwaukee Wave of the National Professional Soccer League. He finished his professional career with the Everett Bigfoot of the Division III U.S.I.S.L. In 1993, he anchored the Murphy’s Pub defense for the U.S. Men’s Amateur national cup champions. McCrath also toured with Athletes-in-Action to South Africa in 1996.

After graduating from SPU, McCrath became an assistant coach at Pacific Lutheran University prior to becoming the head coach at Inglemoor High in the Seattle area. In his six seasons with the Vikings, he compiled a 63-25-13 overall record and a 48-17-7 mark in league play, was named 1992 King County High School Coach-of-the-Year, and led Inglemoor to the state playoffs twice.

McCrath, who holds an “A” coaching license from the United States Soccer Federation and an NSCAA premier license, has also served as a coach for Washington’s Olympic Development Program for five years.

In addition, McCrath is the co-coaching director and administrator of Northwest Soccer Camp, one of the nation’s most successful summer soccer camps, in Seattle. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Seattle Pacific in communications in 1990 and received a master’s degree in physical education with a concentration in sports administration in 1993, also from SPU.

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