Keith Byrnes enters his 13th season as head coach of the Frostburg State men’s soccer program in 2014 and has led the Bobcats to a 123-89-22 overall record.
Over the last three seasons, Byrnes has guided the Bobcats to 26 wins, nine ties and three appearances in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament. FSU has posted 11 wins and four ties in the Capital Athletic Conference and has earned three-consecutive berths in the CAC Tournament semifinals. In 2011, Byrnes was named the CAC Coach of the Year after leading Frostburg to an 11-3-5 overall record and 4-2-2 league slate.
Last fall, the Bobcats played to a 13-7 overall mark behind a perfect 9-0 record at home. FSU posted six shutouts, including five at home and won the FSU Tournament Championship for the third-straight year. Byrnes’ team finished third in the CAC in scoring (2.0 gpg), fourth in goals (40) and fifth in assists (26).
In 2012, Byrnes guided Frostburg State to a 10-0-3 start, one of just 11 NCAA Division III schools to open the season undefeated through the first 13 contests. FSU finished 2012 with a 12-3-4 overall record.
The 2010 year marked the first for Frostburg as a member of the CAC, one of the nation’s toughest leagues. The Bobcats finished 4-10-3 overall and 1-4-3 in the CAC.
Prior to 2010, Byrnes guided his Bobcats to eight-straight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal appearances and back-to-back ECAC South Region Tournaments in 2007 and 2008.
The Bobcats posted an overall record of 83-66-10 in Byrnes’ first eight years at the helm. During that stretch, 36 players earned All-AMCC honors and Byrnes was named the league’s coach of the year in 2008.
In ‘08, Byrnes eclipsed the 100-win plateau for his career with an ECAC Tournament first round win over Washington & Jefferson (1-0). He also guided FSU to the most wins in a season since taking over the program in 2002 (14-5-1) and the most wins since the Bobcats won 16 games in 2000.
In 2007, the Bobcats won six of their final eight games, including a run to the ECAC South Region Championship game. FSU also set the school’s single-game scoring record with a 16-0 defeat of Mt. Aloysius.
Byrnes came to Frostburg after a two-year stint as the part-time head coach at Plymouth State (N.H.) College, where he led the Panthers to a 29-11 overall record, a pair of post-season appearances and Little East Conference Player of the Year honors in both years.
In his first season at Plymouth State, Byrnes guided the Panthers to Little East Conference regular-season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. PSC advanced to the second round and finished with a 15-5 overall record.
Byrnes then led the Panthers to a 14-6 overall mark in 2001, finishing as the runner-up in the LEC and winning the ECAC New England Tournament Championship.
A 1995 graduate of Plattsburgh State (N.Y.), where he played four years for the Cardinals, Byrnes was an assistant coach at his alma mater for one season before serving as an assistant coach at Norwich University for two years. He helped Norwich win a school-record 17 games in 1999, capture the Great Northeast Athletic Conference and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Byrnes’ career as a player included three NCAA Tournament appearances and two State University of New York Athletic Conference championships. He was also a SUNYAC All-Academic Team selection all four years.
Byrnes has his national license from the NSCAA and his “B” license from the USSF. He has also been very active in the local community as he is the Co-Director of Frostburg State Soccer Camps and is the Head Coach for the Far West Region of the Maryland State Youth Soccer Associations District Development Program.
