Easily the winningest mentor in program history,
Matt Paton returns for his 10th season as Manhattanville’s head women’s soccer coach in 2014. Paton also serves the school as Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance.
In nine years at Manhattanville, Paton has earned three Freedom Conference Coach of the Year awards and led the program to its only three postseason titles, including the only two NCAA Tournament berths in school history. He has coached 31 All-Conference honorees at the school, including 13 first-team selections and the only three four-time All-Conference picks in program history. In addition, four of the program’s five NSCAA All-Region selections have come during Paton’s time at the school.
The last two years have been a rebuilding process for Paton and the Valiants. Fielding a team comprising 18 underclassmen and just two juniors in 2013, Paton coached the Valiants to a 5-11-3 record and a fifth-place finish in the competitive Freedom Conference while having two players named All-Freedom Conference selections. He guided the Valiants to a 6-11-0 record in 2012 despite fielding a team with only four upperclassmen. He brought in a massive 17-player incoming class to replenish the talent on the roster and set the stage for future successes, and two of those newcomers were named to the All-Freedom Conference second team to lead three All-Conference picks overall.
Paton did perhaps his best coaching job in 2010, when Manhattanville rebounded from a tough start to sweep through the Freedom Conference Tournament and earn the conference tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth. The Valiant leader took a squad that went 0-11 against non-conference foes during the regular season and galvanized it just in time for conference play: after fighting for a third-place finish in the regular season to reach the postseason for the sixth straight year, Manhattanville advanced past second-seeded Eastern in penalty kicks and then toppled top-ranked FDU-Florham (both on the road) to celebrate another conference championship.
Four Valiants were named to the All-Freedom Conference teams following the season, led by four-time All-Conference picks Ali Bromson and Holly Nonis on the first team and Morgan Rebollal and Sonia Occhionero on the second team, marking the fifth straight year that Paton put at least four players on the All-Conference team. In addition, Nonis was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region third team, making her the first player in program history to earn multiple All-Region honors.
Paton led Manhattanville to the most successful season in program history in 2009, as the Valiants posted the third-largest improvement in Division III to finish the year with a program-record 17 wins and the program’s second Freedom Conference regular-season championship in three seasons. The Valiants were regionally ranked by the NSCAA in all but one week over the course of the year and also received the first national ranking in school history with a 23rd-place spot in the final week of the regular season. The season included the best start to a year ever (4-0) as well as the longest winning streak in program history – a dominating 13-game streak that saw the Valiants out-score their opponents by a 41-7 margin with seven shutouts.
During the season, Paton became the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 3-1 win at Ursinus College and also earned his 100th career victory as a head coach with a triumph over Ramapo College on October 7.
Following the campaign, Manhattanville earned six spots on the All-Freedom Conference team, including Freedom Player of the Year Holly Nonis and a conference-best four first-team selections. As a result, Paton was also named the conference Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons. In addition, Nonis and Ali Bromson became the first pair of Valiant teammates to earn NSCAA All-Region honors with first-team and second-team selections, respectively.
Paton guided the Valiants to a 10-10-0 overall record in 2008, including a 7-2 record in the final nine matches of the regular season. The team earned a third-place finish in the Freedom Conference and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament, the team’s fourth consecutive postseason appearance under Paton. Four of Paton’s players were named to the All-Freedom Conference teams at the end of the season.
Paton’s rebuilding project came to fruition in 2007, as the Valiants earned the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, capping a historic season that saw the team claim its first-ever conference regular-season and tournament championships. After beginning the season 0-11-2 against a treacherous non-conference slate, the Valiants went 5-0-1 in conference play and swept through the Freedom Conference tournament, allowing a conference-low three goals in six Freedom matches. As a result, the team placed a conference-best six players on the All-Conference team, including Freedom Conference Rookie of the Year Holly Nonis. For his effort, Paton was honored with the Freedom Conference Coach of the Year award for a second time.
After inheriting a team that went 2-15-1 in 2004 – one year before his arrival – Paton led the Valiants to a then-program-record 14 wins and the ECAC Metro Tournament Championship a mere two years later in 2006, achieving the first postseason tournament title in the history of the Valiant program. Manhattanville’s move from seven wins in 2005 to 14 in 2006 was the second largest improvement in the country and signaled that the Valiant women’s soccer program was poised to become a player on the regional stage.
In the opening round of the Skyline Conference Tournament, the second-seeded Valiants toppled Saint Joseph’s (L.I.) College, 3-0 at GoValiants.com Field, breaking Manhattanville’s single-season wins record with their 12th victory of the year. Despite falling in the conference championship match, the Valiants earned the top seed in the ECAC Metro Tournament and claimed the title at home with a 2-0 win over Farmingdale State College on November 12.
Among many individual and team achievements in 2006, Paton was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year and saw four of his players – including three freshmen – land on the All-Skyline Conference first team. Along with the Manhattanville single-season wins record, the 2006 Valiants also set program records for fewest losses (five), fewest goals allowed (11) and most shutouts (15).
Paton began his head coaching career at Eastern Connecticut State University, where he went 53-46-10 in six seasons at the helm of the women’s team. After leaving Eastern Connecticut, Paton served as an assistant coach at Division I Colorado (2000), Iowa (2001) and Nevada (2002-04) before coming to Purchase.
A 1991 graduate of Keene State College, Paton spent three seasons as an assistant with both the men’s and women’s teams at Eastern Connecticut State before taking over the women’s head coaching job in 1994.
Paton is certified with a National Soccer Coaches Association Advanced National Diploma and a United States Soccer Federation “B” License. An active recruiter, Paton also coaches at several soccer camps during the offseason.
Paton currently resides in Stratford, Connecticut.
Year by Year Record
At Eastern Connecticut:
1994: 9-8-3
1995: 6-11-1
1996: 11-4-2
1997: 9-8-2
1998: 8-8-2
1999: 10-7-0
At Manhattanville:
2005: 7-13-1
2006: 14-5-3 ECAC Metro Tournament Title
2007: 7-12-3 Freedom Tournament Title, NCAA Tournament
2008: 10-10-0
2009: 17-2-1
2010: 4-14-3 Freedom Tournament Title, NCAA Tournament
2011: 2-17-0
2012: 6-11-0
2013: 5-11-3
Record at Manhattanville: 72-95-14 (.436)
Career Record: 125-141-24 (.472)
