The 2015 season marks the 31st year for head men's soccer coach Chris Waterbury on the Plattsburgh State bench. He has directed the Cardinals to 26 straight winning seasons while averaging 15 wins during that stretch, 11 NCAA tournament appearances, 13 State University of New York Athletic Conference titles and two Eastern College Athletic Conference championships. Over the last 10 years, the Cardinals' 145-41-23 record is the best in the state of New York among all four-year colleges.
Waterbury has compiled a 414-134-56 record (.744) in 30 years with the Cardinals, making him the winningest SUNYAC coach in the program's storied history. A seven-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year (1990-92-98-99-2003-05-12), he owns a 33-year career ledger of 438-152-60 (.720) that includes stops at Plattsburgh, Lyndon State (1983-84) and New England College (1982), making him 11th on the victories list for active NCAA Division III coaches. He has coached scores of all-conference and all-region selections as well as 12 players who have earned All-America accolades 15 times, including Jason Sousa who is the program's only three-time All-American.
Under Waterbury's watchful eye in 2013, the Cardinals rolled up a 15-6-1 record on a team comprised mainly of underclassmen. Led by 2013 SUNYAC Huntley Parker Player of the Year Matt Hamilton and 2013 SUNYAC Rookie of the Year Nick Economou, the squad captured the program's 13th SUNYAC Tournament crown and earned an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament.Â
Waterbury earned his seventh SUNYAC Coach of the Year award in 2012 after guiding the Cardinals to a 17-3-1 record. The 2012 team claimed the regular season conference crown and advanced to the SUNYAC Finals. Matt Hamilton became the 14th player in program history to be selected as an NSCAA All-American with a spot on the Second Team while Nick Pourkais became the first Plattsburgh State men's soccer player to receive the SUNYAC Fred Holloway Award.
In 2010, the Cardinals claimed their 12th SUNYAC title en route to the program's ninth NCAA tournament appearance. Bart Misiak and John LoGuirato each received ECAC first -team all-region honors, anchoring a defense that recorded a conference leading 12 shutouts and held opponents to 0.77 goals per game. Taylor also earned ECAC first-team all-region accolades after leading Plattsburgh in scoring with 21 points and finishing as the Cardinals' all-time leader with 38 assists.
The 2009 squad earned its seventh SUNYAC regular-season crown, made the national rankings for the 17th year in a row at No. 18 in the NSCAA coaches' poll and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Junior back Bart Misiak, who received All-America accolades for the second time, led five All-SUNYAC Cardinals and a defensive unit that topped the conference in scoring defense and allowed the fewest shots on goal.Â
Waterbury had arguably his best defensive squad ever in 2007 when the Cardinals led the nation for the fewest goals allowed (4), goals-against average (0.19), shutout percentage (0.90) and was second in save percentage (.931). The team set school single-season records for those categories, plus 18 shutouts. Junior John San Filippo was an All-America goalkeeper and John LoGuirato and Bart Misiak were all-region defenders on the back line. Plattsburgh advanced to the SUNYAC Tournament championship game and ended the season with eight consecutive shutouts--one shy of another school benchmark.Â
In 2006, Plattsburgh (15-3-2) made its 16th consecutive postseason appearance by reaching the SUNYAC Semifinals. The Cardinals started the year No. 4 in the Top 25 coaches' poll, their highest preseason ranking ever. Senior all-America back Claudio Dias was selected by the Montreal Impact as the No. 13 overall pick in the United Soccer Leagues First Division College Player Draft. Plattsburgh dominated the SUNYAC postseason awards with six all-league selections, including conference rookie of the year John LoGuirato. Waterbury earned his 300th win at the school after a 5-0 shutout of New Paltz at home on Oct. 7, 2006.Â
Waterbury and the Cardinals continued their winning ways with a record-breaking season in 2005. Plattsburgh captured both the SUNYAC regular-season and tournament championships, advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals where it lost to eventual national champion Messiah and ended with a No. 4 national ranking. The program set school records for victories (22-2), winning streak (17 games) and shutouts (15). For his efforts, Waterbury was named the SUNYAC Coach of the Year.
Active in the community and college, Waterbury has organized community-service projects for the team, directed soccer camps and served as an assistant director of athletics at Plattsburgh. A 1981 undergraduate of SUNY Cortland with a bachelor's degree in physical education and emphasis in coaching, Waterbury earned a master's degree in education from SUNY Albany in 1985. He holds both the Premier and Advanced National Coaching Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), of which he is a member of that organization.
Waterbury is married to the former Karen Wiley of Binghamton, N.Y., who was women's soccer coach at Plattsburgh State from 1989-2013 before stepping down to become the associate director of recreation & club sports. The couple has two children: daughter Bailey, who plays soccer at SUNY Oswego, and son Ryan.
The Waterbury Coaching Record
| Season |
School |
Record |
Pct. |
Conf./Place |
Note |
| 1982 |
New England Coll. |
3-9-1 |
.269 |
not available |
1st coaching job |
| 1983 |
Lyndon State |
11-5-2 |
.667 |
not available |
--- |
| 1984 |
Lyndon State |
10-4-1 |
.700 |
not available |
--- |
| 1985 |
Plattsburgh State |
5-9-2 |
.375 |
2-3-1/T-4th |
1st year |
| 1986 |
Plattsburgh State |
7-9-2 |
.444 |
2-4/T-4th |
Beat SUNYIT 8-0 |
| 1987 |
Plattsburgh State |
7-9-2 |
.444 |
0-5/6th |
Opened 3-0-1 |
| 1988 |
Plattsburgh State |
8-7-3 |
.528 |
0-4-1/T-5th |
1st yr +.500 since ‘82 |
| 1989 |
Plattsburgh State |
12-6-1 |
.658 |
2-2/3rd |
Started 4-0-1 |
| 1990 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-2-2 |
.850 |
6-2-1/T-2nd |
ECAC Tournament |
| 1991 |
Plattsburgh State |
13-3-3 |
.763 |
6-1-2/T-2nd |
7-2-1 on the road |
| 1992 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-1-4 |
.857 |
9-0-1/1st |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 1993 |
Plattsburgh State |
18-1-1 |
.925 |
9-1/2nd |
NCAA Tournament |
| 1994 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-4 |
.800 |
10-0/1st |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 1995 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-4-1 |
.763 |
8-2/2nd |
ECAC Tournament |
| 1996 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-3-1 |
.825 |
8-1-1/2nd |
ECAC Champions |
| 1997 |
Plattsburgh State |
15-3 |
.833 |
8-1/2nd |
6-2 on the road |
| 1998 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-4-3 |
.738 |
7-1-1/2nd |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 1999 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-5-1 |
.750 |
7-2/T-2nd |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 2000 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-3-2 |
.810 |
7-2/2nd |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 2001 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-5-2 |
.714 |
8-1/1st |
ECAC Tournament |
| 2002 |
Plattsburgh State |
16-6 |
.727 |
6-3/3rd |
ECAC Tournament |
| 2003 |
Plattsburgh State |
15-5 |
.750 |
9-0/1st |
9-0 at Home |
| 2004 |
Plattsburgh State |
15-4-3 |
.750 |
6-1-2/1st |
SUNYAC, ECAC Finals |
| 2005 |
Plattsburgh State |
22-2 |
.917 |
8-1/1st |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2006 |
Plattsburgh State |
15-3-2 |
.800 |
7-2/T-2nd |
SUNYAC Semifinals |
| 2007 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-2-4 |
.800 |
7-2-2/3rd |
18 Shutouts |
| 2008 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-3-2 |
.789 |
7-2-1/2nd |
Led SUNYAC in GF&GA |
| 2009 |
Plattsburgh State |
13-3-6 |
.727 |
7-1-1/1st |
NCAA Second Round |
| 2010Â Â Â |
Plattsburgh State |
13-5-4 |
.682 |
6-3/4th |
SUNYAC Champions |
| 2011 |
Plattsburgh State |
13-5-2 |
.700 |
4-3-2 |
SUNYAC Semifinals |
| 2012 |
Plattsburgh State |
17-3-1 |
.833 |
7-2/1st |
SUNYAC Finals |
| 2013 |
Plattsburgh State |
15-6-1 |
.705 |
6-3/4th |
SUNYAC Champions, NCAA First Round |
| 2014 |
Plattsburgh State |
9-9-1 |
.500 |
3-6/7th |
Three All-SUNYAC Selections, Two NSCAA All-Region Selections |
| 2015 |
Plattsburgh State |
14-5-3 |
.705 |
4-2-3/4th |
SUNYAC Semifinals, Five All-SUNYAC Selections, Two NSCAA All-Region Selections, One All-American Selection, NCAA First Round |
| 31 yrs. |
Plattsburgh Totals |
428-139-59 |
.731 |
176-57-17 |
|
| 34 yrs. |
Career Totals |
452-157-63 |
.719 |
|
|
Waterbury Milestone Victories at Plattsburgh State
No. 1: 3rd game at Castleton St. (2-1), 1985
No. 100: 17th game at Johnson St. (1-0), 1993
No. 200: at SUNYIT (11-0), Sept. 16, 2000
No. 300: vs. New Paltz (5-0), Oct. 7, 2006
No. 400: vs. Buffalo State (3-2 ot), Oct. 18, 2013
1st SUNYAC Championship: 1992 (9-0-1 league)
1st SUNYAC Tournament: 4-2 vs. Geneseo, 11/6/98
1st NCAA Tournament: 2-0 vs. Albany, Nov. 1994
