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Drury University

Drury University Athletics
 900 North Benton Avenue Springfield, MO 65802
Division 2 Missouri Midwest
Private Small National competitor
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Coaches

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Ben Taylor

Ben Taylor will be in his seventh year as head coach of the Drury men’s soccer program in 2023.


In 2022, Taylor led the Panthers to a 7-3-7 record and a 5-1-6 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury featured three All-GLVC selections and All-Region pick Kaelan Debbage.


Drury went 7-3-4 (on the field) in the GLVC in 2021 and reached semifinals of the league tournament, their deepest GLVC postseason run since 2014. Drury ended the year 8-7-4 overall and featured three all-conference performers.


In 2020-21, the season saw games pushed to the spring semester due to the coronavirus pandemic and the Panthers finished the year (on the field) 7-7. Jayd Hamdaoua became the first player in program history to be named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year as he completed the year with seven goals, two assists and 16 points in 14 games.


In 2019, Taylor led the Panthers back to the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament for the first time in three years. Drury went 9-8-2, 7-6-2 in the GLVC to finish tied for sixth in the league and an improvement of six spots in the conference standings. The Panthers took 24th ranked McKendree to overtime in the opening round of the GLVC playoffs, falling 3-2. Jamie O'Brien scored 11 goals in 15 games and was named a 2nd team all-conference performer.


The 2018 team featured a young roster that lost twice in overtime and fell by a single goal six times. The Panthers featured all-conference selection Jamie O'Brien, who was named to the All-GLVC squad in his freshman season.


Taylor returned to his alma mater in 2017 and led the Panthers to a 7-7-2 record and a 6-6-2 mark in the conference. That team featured two all-GLVC performers, including Charles Guelly, who was named to the first team, and Ben Bruce, a third-team selection.


In six seasons, Taylor owns a 40-44-18 record at Drury and is 34-33-14 in conference play. (The NCAA vacated 7 wins from 2020-21 and 8 wins from 2021 resulting in his official record of 25-44-18 and 19-33-14). He has coached 13 players that have been named All-GLVC, including one Freshman of the Year in the league and has had one All-Region selection.


Taylor came back to Drury after spending six seasons as the head coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. His teams went 76-36-8 during his tenure and were ranked in the NJCAA top 20 in four of his six seasons, with one of his teams ranked as high as second nationally. He also coached three NJCAA All-Americans during his time at ICCC. In addition, Taylor served as an assistant coach for the Des Moines Menace in the Premier Developmental League and helped the franchise to a 12-1-1 record in 2014.


As a Drury player from 2007-10, Taylor was a Second Team All-American selection, a two-time First Team All-GLVC pick, and was named to the All-Region first-team three times. He finished his playing career ranked second all-time in assists at Drury with 23. Taylor helped the Panthers to the GLVC title in his junior year in 2009 with a team that went 21-2 and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA-II national tournament. He was a four-year starter, a team captain for three seasons, and also a member of the GLVC All-Academic Team.


Taylor graduated from Drury in 2011 with a degree in Speech Communication and a Masters Degree in Secondary Education in 2022. Taylor holds a United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, UEFA B and is completing his UEFA A license in June of 2023.


In December of 2020, Ben married Mel (Jaeger) Taylor and the couple resides in Springfield.

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Juan Espinal

Juan Espinal will be in his third season on the Drury men’s soccer coaching staff in 2023 and was promoted to Associate Head Coach after the 2022 campaign.


In his two seasons on the staff, the Panthers have gone 15-10-11 with a 12-4-10 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury has also had six All-GLVC selections as wells as one All-Region pick.


He joined the Drury men’s soccer staff in 2021 after a two-season stint as the head coach of Indian Hills Community College. Espinal led the Warriors to a 24-7-3 record and coached 14 ICCAC All-Region players and 36 ICCAC All-Academic team honorees.


Espinal is a native of Muscatine, Iowa, and was formerly a graduate assistant for the men’s soccer team at Iowa Lakes Community College.


In 2023, Juan was inducted into the Muscatine High School Hall of Fame in his hometown of Muscatine, Iowa. He was a four-year varsity starter on the soccer team there from 2008-12 and was a first-team all-conference pick as a sophomore, junior and senior. In his senior year, Espinal registered 32 goals, 16 assists and also received First Team All-State honors.


Juan played for the 1994 Iowa Olympic Development Program (ODP) team throughout his middle and high school years, winning three regional titles and winning a national championship in 2011 at the ODP National Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.


Espinal also played for Eastern Iowa United, based out of Iowa City, Iowa, known as one of the best club teams in the state of Iowa coached under Jon Cook, winning back-to-back state cups and competing at the regional tournament.


Juan has competed at the Semi-Professional level in both the Professional Development League (PDL) and in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), playing for the Springfield Demize in 2013 (PDL) and playing for the Quad City Eagles in 2014 (NPSL).


Espinal attended Iowa Central Community College from 2012-2014 where he obtained his AA degree and competed at the NJCAA division one level. In 2012, he helped the Tritons to a number six national ranking. He was a two-year starter and a second-team All-Region award winner at Iowa Central. Juan continued his collegiate career at Texas A&M International University from 2014-2016. He attained his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Business Management.


He currently holds his USSF coaching E license and plans to join the USSF D coaching course.

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