Radford University

PO Box 6913 Radford, VA 24142
Division 1 Virginia Northeast
Public Medium Competitive team
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Coaches

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Bryheem Hancock

Bryheem Hancock enters his second season at the helm of the Radford men’s soccer program after taking the position on March 28, 2017. Hancock came to Radford after spending eight seasons as an assistant at South Florida.


In first season, Hancock guided Radford 10-4-4 mark on the season, including a 5-1-2 mark in Big South play, finishing second in the standings. In the postseason, Radford made its sixth consecutive appearance in the Big South Tournament semifinals.


Hancock brought a high-potent offense to the New River Valley as the Highlanders owned the eighth best scoring offense in the country with 2.11 goals per match, while ranking 10th with 6.28 points per match.


Kieran Roberts finished the season with 15 goals, which ranked fourth in the country. Sivert Daehlie followed with 12 goals to rank 17th in the country. In addition, Roberts led the country with 5.44 shots per match and 2.83 shots on goal.


The Highlanders swept the postseason awards as Roberts was named the Big South’s Attacking Player of the Year and Fraser Colmer earned Co-Defensive Player of the Year.


In all, Radford placed four on the Big South First Team (Kieran Roberts, Fraser Colmer, Sivert Daehlie, Victor Valls). Evan Szklennik and Max Edwards were named to the conference’s second team. Edwards joined Noy Daabul on the Big South All-Freshman team.


Academically, Colmer was named Big South Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season, while earning his third straight CoSIDA Academic All-American honor. Colmer also became the first Highlander in program history to be named a Senior CLASS Award All-American, finishing second to Wake Forest’s Jon Bakero.


In Hancock’s eight seasons as an assistant, USF finished with double-digit wins in five seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament seven times. The Bulls won the 2013 American Athletic Conference Tournament championship and 2011 BIG EAST Red Division Regular Season Championship. USF’s 2015 recruiting class headed by Hancock was named No. 3 in the country by College Soccer News.


After finishing his professional playing career, Hancock began his collegiate coaching career at South Florida in 2009. Under Hancock’s watchful eye, USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and was also named a first team National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American in his first season. That same year, Attinella posted a 14-4-3 record with seven shutouts and a 0.83 goals against average.


Hancock spent his collegiate career at UConn (1998-2001), guiding the Huskies to NCAA Tournament appearances all four years, two final four appearances and the 2000 NCAA Division I National Championship. The Middletown, Del., native was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team in 2000. Hancock was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year in 2001 as well as earning NSCAA All-America status. In his senior season, he was honored with the 2001 Leadership Student-Athlete Award.


He finished his career at UConn boasting 44 wins, 29 shutouts, 25 goals allowed and a 0.70 goals against average. Hancock graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Communications in 2001.


After setting the UConn collegiate shutout record at 15 in one season, Hancock played professional soccer in the United States for three years, including stints with the L.A. Galaxy (2001-02), Atlanta Silverbacks (2002-03) and Toronto Lynx (2004) of Major League Soccer (MLS).


In 2001, Hancock was the first goalkeeper selected in the 2001 MLS Draft by the L.A. Galaxy. In 2003, Hancock was named the Atlanta Silverback MVP while recording the team record for most saves in a season and most saves in a single game. He accumulated additional honors in 2004 with the Toronto Lynx as the team defensive MVP. In his year with the Lynx, he held the team record for most saves in a season.


In addition to his success at UConn, Hancock was part of the U-17 National Team, where he was named captain in 1997 and 1998, and was the starting goalkeeper in the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championships in Egypt.

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Brian Cronin

Cronin enters his fourth season with the Highlanders and continues to help Radford reach greater heights in his tenure.


In 2016, Radford finished with a 14-4-2 record while capturing the Big South Regular Season and Tournament Championships. After collecting the third straight regular season title, Radford ended its 16-year absence as kings of the Big South, winning its first tournament championship since 2000 with a 1-0 decision over sixth seeded Longwood.


Punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, Radford dropped a 2-1 decision to former Big South foe Coastal Carolina. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Radford fought back, limiting the Chanticleers to only one shot in the second half.


Radford put together one of the best defensive seasons in program history that year. The Highlanders led the Big South with 10 shutouts, yielding only 13 goals total and two in league play. Radford ranked ninth nationally with a 0.63 goals against average and 13th with a 0.50 shutout percentage. Finishing with a 0.824 save percentage to rank 10th nationally as a team, Aitor Pouseu Blanco ranked 13th nationally in the individual category. Pouseu Blanco also ranked 10th in the country with a 0.611 goals against average.


Eight Highlanders earned All-Big South honors. Radford defensive backline of Jo Vetle Rimstad, Fraser Colmer and Bismark Amofah joined Pouseu Blanco on the first team. The trio also joined Pouseu Blanco on the All-Tournament team as Pouseu Blanco earned MVP honors.


Individually, Rimstad racked up several honors in the postseason. In addition to collecting Radford’s second consecutive Big South Defense Player of the Year award, Rimstad earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-South Region first team. The all-region honor was Rimstad’s first step to becoming Radford’s second NSCAA All-American in program history during the NCAA Division I era as Rimstad joined Olympian Dante Washington as the only two Highlanders to hold the honor. Adding to his NSCAA All-American third honor award, Rimstad was named to the NSCAA’s Scholar All-America First Team.


Rimstad capped off his already impressive postseason with hearing his named called in the 2017 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The D.C. United selected Rimstad with the 43rd overall pick in the draft. The five-time Big South Defensive Player of the Week honoree aided Radford to 31 shutouts in his career.


Colmer became the sixth Big South Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of Year recipient in program history, including the second in last two years. Colmer earned a nod on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team, becoming only the third Highlander in program history to be named to the team. Colmer joined Rimstad on the NSCAA All-South Region squad with a third team nod.


The 2016 season saw the Highlanders receive its highest national ranking in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll with a ranking of 20th. Radford was ranked inside the Top 25 for three consecutive weeks during the season. The 2016 senior class capped of their careers with a 49-20-11 record over a four-year span, including a 24-4-5 record inside Cupp Stadium.


All of success of the 2016 season was built off the 2015 season in which the Highlanders finished with a 14-4-2 record, making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Radford received its first NCAA at-large bid in program history on the strength of its No. 20 RPI. The Highlanders finished the Big South schedule with a 7-1-1 record, securing a share of their sixth conference regular-season championship.


In the NCAA First Round, Radford dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 match to Charlotte. The 49ers broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the 84th minute. The NCAA tournament appearance marked the first appearance by the Highlanders since the 2000 season.


In 2015, as the Highlanders were one of the top offensive threats in the country. Radford led the Big South with 44 goals, ranking in the Top 20 nationally. Meanwhile, Radford's defense was just as impressive, only allowing four goals in Big South play—the lowest recorded in the league.


At the end of the season, six players earned All-Big South honors—five named to the first team, a program record. Daniel O’Keefe became the first Highlander to be named Big South Defensive Player of the Year, after anchoring the backline of a defense that finished with nine shutouts. Sivert Daehlie led the Highlanders and ranked second in the Big South with 13 goals. Daehlie ranked second nationally with seven game winning goals. He finished the season ranked inside the nation's Top-25 in goals, goals per game, points and points per game.


The Highlanders dominated the VaSID awards, sweeping all three major awards with five players earning all-state first team honors. Daehlie claimed the honor of becoming the first player to win both the Player and Rookie of the Year in VaSID All-State history. Furthermore, he was the Highlanders' first-ever player to be named VaSID Player of the Year.


Cronin joined the Highlander staff after spending the 2014 season with Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. As an assistant coach of the men's soccer program, Cronin helped the Mustangs finish 8-7-4 in the Big West.


While at Cal Poly, Cronin coached within the Eagles Soccer Club, overseeing the U-16 Girls, who finished in the top 50 in Cal South. The team was also promoted to Coast League Gold after one season.


Prior to joining Cal Poly's coaching staff, Cronin spent two seasons at Clemson as the director of soccer operations. In 2013, the program finished fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and advanced to the NCAA tournament. In 2012, Clemson finished 6-8-4 and lost to Maryland in the ACC tournament semifinals. While at Clemson, Cronin also served as the assistant coach for the '98 South Carolina Olympic Development Program Team.


Cronin also brings pro experience to the New River Valley, having served as a game day operations and account executive for the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS.


In addition to holding an advanced national diploma from the NSCAA and a USSF National B License, Cronin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Chapman University in May 2008. While at Chapman, Cronin played for the men's soccer program for two years. Prior to Chapman, Cronin played two seasons for state powerhouse Cabrillo Junior College and was a part of the state finalist team in 2005.

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