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Alfred University

Alfred, NY 14802
New York Northeast
Private Small Developing team
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Craig Yanni

Craig Yanni has been on the coaching staff of the women’s soccer team at Alfred University since 2012. He has served as an assistant in charge of coaching goalkeepers from 2012-2017 and transitioned into the Head Coach position in the fall of 2017.


During the 2020 season, Yanni led the Saxons to their first Empire 8 Tournament victory in program history. In the 2021 season, Coach Yanni and his Saxons broke the program record for most Empire 8 Conference wins in a season while at Houghton College in a 3-0 shutout on October 20. In the same season, Abigail Austin '22 was named to the All-Region Third Team for the first time in school history since 1996.


In his first season at the helm of the Saxons, Yanni led the team to a 7-9-3 overall record and 3-3-2 record in Empire 8 play, earning the teams' first berth to the Empire 8 Championships. Four Saxons earned a spot on the Empire 8 All-Conference team, a program record since joining the Empire 8 Conference.


As an assistant coach in charge of coaching goalkeepers, he worked with two keepers that made their way into the record books. In 2013, he coached Samijo Scheer '14 who went on to make 152 saves that year, ranking fifth all-time for saves in a season. With the graduation of Scheer, Yanni began developing a 2014 first-year, Sammy Jo Shanahan. Shanahan now stands as the program record holder in career saves (611) and ranks second in saves in a season (182); a feat she completed during her first-year campaign. Shanahan has been named to the All-Empire 8 Team twice.


Yanni has extensive coaching experience at the collegiate and high school levels. He was head coach at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY, for the 2011 season. As the Head Coach during that season he coached the Mavericks to an 8-11 record following a 3-15-1 season the year before.


He was also an assistant at Medaille for four years (2007-10), serving as goalkeepers coach for three of those seasons (2007-10).


Yanni is a 2007 graduate of Medaille College, where he played on the men’s soccer team before earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. At Medaille, he earned several honors, including Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) First Team All-Conference; AMCC Academic All-Conference; and NSCAA/Adidas All-East regional academic honors. In 2009, he earned a master’s degree in business administration, also from Medaille.

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Tyler Landries

Tyler Landries joined Alfred University in the fall of 2017 as the graduate assistant coach for men's soccer team. The Saxons reached the Empire 8 Semifinals in his final year coaching with the men’s team. Landries then went on to graduate from Alfred University with a Master in Business Administration (MBA) in May of 2019 and was named the Assistant Coach of the Women's Soccer team in the summer of 2019.


Landries comes to from just across the street as he played three years of men's soccer at Alfred State College where he earned a Bachelor's of Business Administration and an Associate's Degree in marketing upon graduating in 2016. During his time as a student-athlete, he racked up 26 points from 11 goals and four assists in his 49 games (22 starts). Out of his 11 career goals, three were game-winners.


Before his time at Alfred State, Landries went to Genesee Valley Central School while he was living in Angelica, NY.


Landries is currently employed at Intandem in Olean, NY as the Community Relations Manager.

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Danielle Perry

Danielle Perry joined the women's soccer coaching staff in January 2021 after an impressive playing career for the Purple and Gold. Perry, a fall 2020 graduate of Alfred University, assists Yanni with game planning and recruiting efforts.


Perry wrapped up her soccer playing career in 2019, where the three-year captain starred on defense, playing in 44 contests with 41 starts. Impressively, she was only cautioned once during her career, tallying one yellow card. Her defenses were consistently among the stingiest in the Empire 8, as she helped to produce 17 shutouts in her career. She was also a longtime member of the track and field teams. She graduates as the AU record holder in both the indoor triple jump (10.87 meters) and the outdoor triple jump (10.91 meters) events.


On the academic front, Perry was a consistent member of the Empire 8 President's List (awarded to those who earn a 3.75 grade point average and above) and was a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor society, which honors athletic and academic excellence on a national level.


Perry earned bachelor's degrees in both Biomaterials Engineering and Biology with a minor in Chemistry.

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Mitchell Porter

Mitch Porter joins the Alfred University women's soccer coaching staff as the Assistant Coach in the Fall of 2018 after completing two years as the Graduate Assistant.


Prior to AU, Porter was a four-year player at Alfred State College where he earned his Bachelor's in sports management. While playing for the Pioneers, he was tabbed as an USCAA All-American Honorable Mention Player in 2016. He recorded 21 goals with five of them being game-winners and he assisted on nine goals during his tenure for 51 points.


A native of Hornell, NY, Porter earned his MBA here at Alfred University and resides in Hornell.

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Tracy Blake

Blake was named as the head men's soccer coach at Alfred University in the prior to the 2017 season. He is the 8th Head Coach in AU men's soccer history. Blake came to AU in February of 2017 from SUNY Cortland, where he served the 2016 season as an assistant and goalkeepers coach for the Red Dragon women’s soccer team. He served in the same capacity for the SUNY Oswego women’s team from 2013-15 and prior to that served the 2012 season as assistant coach for the Cayuga Community College men’s team.


In the 2019 season, the Saxons got hot down the stretch, winning three of their last four contests to make the Empire 8 Tournament, and upset second-seeded Sage in the semifinal for the program's first non-shootout tournament victory in program history, advancing to the Empire 8 Championship game.


In just his second year at the helm of the Saxons, Blake led AU to its fifth Empire 8 Championship tournament in program history. The Saxons finished the season second overall - the highest finish in the Empire 8 in program history, touting a 5-2 record conference record - another program record in the Empire 8.


A native of Bolton, England, Blake has more than 30 years’ experience as a youth club coach -- in Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York -- and currently serves as head coach of Lakefront Soccer Club in Webster, NY, and New York West, an Olympic developmental program. He also has prior experience at the high school level, serving as head coach of the girls team at Keystone Oaks High School in Pittsburgh from 2007-12.


Blake is a veteran of the United States Air Force, and served as a player and assistant coach on the U.S. Air Force All-Military team from 1983-89. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports recreation management from Ashford University in 2012.

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Andrew Barnikel

Andrew Barnikel joins the Alfred University men's soccer staff as an assistant coach entering the 2022 season following a successful playing career with the program. Barnikel previously graduated from Alfred University in 2019 with his bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering with a minor in chemistry.


While at AU, Barnikel served as a member of the men's soccer team for five years as both a goalkeeper and midfielder. Barnikel was part of Alfred University's 2018 roster that finished as the No. 2 seed in the regular season for the first time in program history since joining the Empire 8 conference. In addition, Barnikel assisted the team with video projects and training sessions.


As a member of the coaching staff, Barnikel plays a role with scouting, recruiting, session design and social media. He earned his US Soccer National C Coaching License in the Spring of 2023.


Prior to AU, Barnikel served on the coaching staff for Lexington FC and LFC.

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