Trinity Men's Soccer Adds Recent Alums To Coaching Staff
Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College men's soccer team, coached by Mike Pilger (9th Season), has hired Grant Schonberg (Mendham, N.J.) and Chris Binnie (Kingston, Jamaica) to its coaching staff for the 2012 season. Both completed their collegiate careers with the Bantams last fall, helping Trinity to an 11-5-3 record, the program's first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Finals, and its first NCAA Tourney bid and victory since 1997.
Binnie begins his first year as a graduate assistant coach for the Trinity men's soccer and men's squash teams. A two-sport athlete in both for the Bantams, Binnie completed his squash eligibility in the spring of 2011 and his soccer career last fall. He is a 2012 graduate of the College with a bachelor's degree in environmental studies and economics. Binnie has played squash for his native Jamaica since 2000 and won the British Virgin Islands Open Squash Championship title. While a member the Trinity's 13-time College Squash Association (CSA) National Championship squad, Binnie posted a 52-5 record and earned All-American honors.
Schonberg, a two-time All-NESCAC Second Teamer, begins his first season as a Bantam men's soccer assistant coach. Schonberg finished 12th in nation with an .875 save percentage as Trinity's goalkeeper in 2011 and set a College-record with a 0.56 GAA (15th nation). A three-year starter in the Bantam goal, Schonberg made 247 saves for a .867 save percentage (2nd all-time at Trinity) and added a College record 0.77 GAA, a 27-16-5 record (2nd all-time at Trinity in wins), and a College-record 20 shutouts in his Bantam career.
Trinity men's soccer qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time since 1997, and downed St. Joseph's (Maine), 1-0, in the NCAA First Round, before failing to advance on penalty kicks after tying Babson, 2-2, in the NCAA Second Round. The Bantam men's squash team, coached by Paul Assaiante (18th Season), finished the 2011-12 season with an 18-2 record, captured its sixth consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship title, and tied for the College Squash Association (CSA) Dual Match title with Princeton to extend its streak of earning at least a share of the Association Trophy to 15 years in a row. The Bantams saw the longest known winning streak in the history of intercollegiate varsity sports end at 252 victories in a row with a 5-4 loss at Yale in mid-January, but rallied to gain their 16th straight appearance in the CSA National Finals before suffering a 5-4 defeat on the road at Princeton to end the year. The Bantams finished the year ranked No. 2 in the CSA National Rankings.
