WOODLAND, Calif. -- Sacramento State men’s soccer head coach Michael Linenberger was voted 2001 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Soccer Coach of the Year, it was announced today. Linenberger was selected by MPSF coaches after leading the Hornets to a 4-1-2 conference record and their first regular season conference championship since joining the Div. I ranks in 1991.With no more than two conference wins in any of the past nine seasons, Linenberger directed the Hornets to their best conference finish in school history to earn his first Coach of the Year Award since joining the MPSF in 1992.
Along with the Hornets’ program-record four wins, Sacramento State earned the No. 1 seed in the MPSF Tournament. It was the first postseason appearance for the program since making the move to Div. I. After a 4-1 loss to Air Force on Oct. 12, the Hornets finished the season with a program record six-game conference unbeaten streak to edge the Falcons 14-13 in the final MPSF standings. Sacramento State clinched its first regular season conference title with a 3-1 win over San Diego State at Hornet Soccer Field in the final match of the year.
Along with the improvement in the standings, Linenberger has helped Sacramento State receive 10 all-conference selections the past two seasons including a program and conference-best six in 2001.
Linenberger began his coaching career with the Hornets as an assistant in 1988 and co-head coach from 1989 to 1991, before taking sole control of the coaching duties in 1992. He has led the team through each year as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. In his career, Linenberger has compiled a 81-138-18 overall record.
Along with his coaching duties, Linenberger is currently in his fifth year as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee which oversees the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer College Cup and team selections in the NCAA Tournament. Linenberger also serves as chair of the NCAA West Regional Advisory Committee. Linenberger also was selected by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a scout for Project 2010, an initiative designed to make the men’s national team fully competitive in the 2010 Word Cup.
As a collegian, Linenberger was a four-year letterwinner and team captain at Duke University where he led the Blue Devils’ soccer team to the 1986 NCAA Division I title. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke in 1987. He went on to play professional soccer with the Sacramento Senators and for several second and third-division teams in Germany from 1987-89.
In addition, 21 of his former Sacramento State student-athletes have gone on to professional careers. Most recently, Joe Enochs was selected to the 2001 U.S. National team to become the first Hornet to compete at the olympic level.
