Appalachian State University men's head coach Jason O'Keefe announced the addition of assistant coach Matthew Evans to the coaching staff on March 8, 2019.
In his first season with App State, the Mountaineers had a breakout season, posting 11 wins, the most for the Mountaineers since 2002, along with eight shutouts, the most clean sheets since 2011. Over the course of the season, App State took down four top 60 teams including Central Arkansas, High Point, Loyola Maryland and RV North Carolina. App State’s win over the Tar Heels was its first since 1980, and marked the second straight season the Mountaineers beat a ranked team (def. No. 22 Coastal Carolina in 2018).
The Mountaineers consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Southeast region in the United Soccer Coaches poll, ranking as high as No. 4. App State’s RPI took a huge leap as well, jumping from 121 in 2018 to 68 in 2019. The Mountaineers ranked as high as 43 in the RPI during the 2019 season. App State scored 26 goals over the course of the season, the most since 2009.
Under the development of Evans, Jacob Madden, a redshirt freshman, made a splash at goalkeeper for the Mountaineers, starting every game between the posts and notching all eight shutouts. Madden ended the season with a 1.17 goals against average, allowing only 22 goals in 1,694 minutes. The keeper made 56 saves and his shutout percentage of .412 at the end of the regular season ranked him 37th in the NCAA.
"We are very excited to add Matty to our staff," O'Keefe stated. "Matty has worked some of our camps in the past and will be a fantastic addition to our program. He has hit the ground running and already helped the program in many ways. He brings international experience to the staff coming from England, where he grew up playing and then came over to the US to play and get his degree. He has worked with two of the top Division II programs over the past couple of years, so he knows what it takes to win a championship. He brings a great wealth of knowledge and background of successfully training goalkeepers to develop and exceed their potential."
The newly-hired assistant is no stranger to success, as both of his stints at West Chester and most recently, Lander, combined for a 30-5-5 mark and deep runs in the postseason. In his one-year stint at Lander, he helped the Bearcats boast a 16-2-3 record and a 6-1 Peach Belt Conference record. Lander finished as a regular season and tournament runner-up while earning a Southeast Regional championship and an NCAA Elite Eight appearance. Lander finished the season ranked fifth in the nation. The Bearcats allowed just 12 goals during the season thanks in large part to a stellar 16 shutouts and a Lander record of 942 minutes without suffering a score. Lander saw six players earn all-conference recognition, five all-region selections and one All-American in Jordan Skelton. Among Lander's all-region selections was its goalkeeper, Jacob Withers, who was first in the nation for save percentage, had a 0.38 GAA and posted 13 clean sheets out of the 16 opponents he faced.
While at West Chester, he contributed to the Golden Rams' 14-3-2 season and an unblemished 11-0 record in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, capturing a conference championship. West Chester advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 for the first time in over 50 years. Five players earned all-conference honors with four being named all-region. The Golden Rams finished 17th in the country in the final rankings.
Evans played semi-professionally in the USL league 2 in 2016 for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
As a player at Seton Hill, Evans was a successful goalkeeper, starting in 36 career matches and totaling over 3,000 minutes of playing time between the posts. He helped the team to a school record 12 wins in 2015, while his eight shutouts were the fourth most in conference history. He totaled 131 saves in two seasons with a career save percentage of .744.
"I want to give a big thank you to coach O'Keefe and Doug Gillin for the opportunity to coach in an extremely successful athletics department," coach Evans said. "I am excited to be able to work with Jason & Brad (Franks) in continuing to transform Appalachian State men's soccer into a championship-winning program. I have been able to get to know Jason over the past few months and our philosophies, coaching style, and beliefs are very similar. His love for the game is contagious and I am excited to be apart of his coaching staff. I want to say thank you to Lee Squires at Lander University for being an incredible mentor as I continued to make the transition from being a player to a coach. I wish Lee and the program all the best for the future"
Evans graduated from Seton Hill University with a bachelor's of science degree in sports management. He will be joined in Boone by his wife, Rachel.
