Bob Durocher

Just the third coach in St. Lawrence University history to earn national coach of the year honors, Saint soccer coach Bob Durocher has built one of the finest Division III soccer programs in the nation in a relatively short time. His 1999 team became the first team in NCAA Division III history to go undefeated and untied en route to a national championship and Durocher was named NSCAA Division III Coach of the Year for his efforts. Durocher takes a career record of 275-93-38 into his 23rd season at SLU. St. Lawrence made it to the NCAA Tournament 12 of the last 14 seasons, with the Saints most recently hosting the sectionals in 2011.

Coach of the Year honors are nothing new for the Saint coach. He was Northeast Regional Coach of the Year in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2010 and 2011, and was named Coach of the Year several times in the UCAA before the conference became the Liberty League, where he also earned the honor in  2004, 2008, 2010 and 2011.

His Saints completed a perfect regular season with a 16-0-0 record in 1998 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, finishing the year 17-0-2 after a shootout loss in the quarters. His 1998 team, his ninth at St. Lawrence, was the first undefeated team in Saint soccer history and re-wrote the record book.

The 1999 team improved on those records with its 22-0-0 run and became the third team in Saint history to win an NCAA championship. The Saints improved their nation's longest unbeaten streak to 60 games before being upset by Hamilton in the regional final in the NCAA tourney. The 2001 team went 16-1 in the regular season and beat RIT and Norwich in the regional before losing in the NCAA quarterfinals to Richard Stockton. In 2002, he led a team that lost seven starters to graduation or injury to another regional title and an NCAA semifinal berth, and the Saints hosted the NCAA championship round for the first time. He led the Saints to their seventh conference title and the first UCAA Tournament crown in conference history.

Durocher's 2003 team continued its winning tradition, going 17-3 overall, 7-1 in conference. The Saints earned their eighth UCAA season championship and proved their title a week later by winning their second consecutive UCAA tournament. The 2003 season was ended in the regional final game against Wheaton College.His teams earned the NCAA Northeast Regional Final in 2004, 2005 and 2006, played in the second round in 2008 and 2010 and advanced to the round of 16 in 2011 after posting the third undefeated and untied record in program history.

Since the inception of the Liberty League in 2004, St. Lawrence played in the conference championship game every year but two and has won tournament titles and the NCAA bid which goes with those titles four times. His teams have won 13 conference titles and earned 12 NCAA berths and an ECAC Championship in the last 14 seasons..He has produced 76 regional All America and `8 national All America players during his tenure. Dan Annan became the first player in Saint history to be named NCAA Division III Player of the Year. Four of Durocher's players have been invited to the Umbro Select All Star Classic, with Jamal Ballantyne '01 being the most recent player to participate.

A native of Canton and a three-sport high school athlete, Durocher was a two-year captain and a four-year starter and all conference player at Ithaca College. He returned to his hometown as the third coach in Saint soccer history when he took over the program in 1990. He began his coaching career at Canton College as its women's coach and took that team to the NJCAA Tournament. He then moved to Florida where he was a player and an assistant coach in a USASA league before returning to the North Country as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's teams at St. Lawrence in 1989.

Past chair of the NCAA Regional Selection Committee and a member of the ECAC Selection Committee and the NSCAA/ISAA Rating Board, the SLU coach has also been director of the St. Lawrence fitness facility and currently serves as an Assistant Athletic Director. He is also active in the promotion of youth soccer in the Canton area. Durocher and his wife Robin, the director of St. Lawrence's fitness center, reside in Canton with their children, Ryan, Danielle, and Trent.