AMHERST, Mass. - Former New Haven head coach Brendan Faherty and Penn assistant Abby Shiffler have been named UMass women's soccer assistant coaches.
Faherty joins UMass after serving as head coach at New Haven for nine seasons where he became the winningest coach in program history with 82 career victories. He led the Chargers to six straight postseason berths and the school's first two appearances in the Division II NCAA Tournament, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2005. Faherty was recognized as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year that season, as well, after the team captured the league's regular season crown.
Under his watch, New Haven women's soccer saw its first four All-America honors, three straight conference Player of the Year award winners and the first Academic All-American in the program's existence. Faherty has also guided student-athletes to 13 all-region accolades and 27 all-conference plaudits. His 2008 squad earned recognition as a NSCAA/adidas National Academic Team.
"Brendan brings a great deal of knowledge and experience to our program," said Minutemen head coach Ed Matz. "Since playing for me at Northeastern, Brendan has dedicated his life to coaching soccer. His experience in running sessions and recruiting will be a tremendous asset for us."
As a player at Northeastern, Faherty was a four-year starter and three-year team captain for the Huskies. The team MVP earned America East All-Conference and All-Tournament honors as a senior and participated in the New England Senior Bowl. Following college he played one year with the Cape Cod Crusaders of the USL.
Faherty graduated from Northeastern with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training in 2001 and spent a year coaching in England while earning a postgraduate degree in football industries at Liverpool University in 2002.
Faherty has also held numerous positions at the club soccer level, including serving as director of coaching for CFC Impact and as a Connecticut State ODP head coach.
Shiffler joins the Minutewomen staff after spending the 2009 season as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania where she was responsible for training the Quakers' goalkeepers. She previously spent time as assistant coach at both Caldwell College and Fairleigh Dickinson University and has been a goalkeeper trainer in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., for the past four years.
"Abby enjoyed a great career as a goalkeeper at Monmouth," said Matz. "She will bring a great deal of knowledge in training our goalkeepers, assist with recruiting, develop our summer camps and help expand our relationship with the Amherst community."
A four-year starter in goal for Monmouth University from 2001-04, Shiffler recorded 280 career saves to rank third on the program's all-time list. She earned second-team All-Northeast Conference honors as a freshman while receiving the team's Rookie of the Year award.
In 2002, Shiffler helped the Hawks advance to the final of the NEC Tournament, where they were eliminated in a shootout by Central Connecticut State. As a junior, she ranked second in the conference in both goals-against average and save percentage.
Shiffler, a native of Hershey, Pa., graduated from Monmouth in 2005 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.
