Recognized as one of the most successful coaches in NCAA women’s soccer history, Gabe Mejaíl has completed 25 seasons at Merrimack. He has led the Warriors to eight Northeast-10 Conference regular season championships, two ECAC titles and nine trips to the NCAA Regionals while compiling a record of 351-137-30 (.719). With 29 years as a head coach under his belt, Mejaíl is the winningest coach in Division II women’s soccer history with 386 career victories. His victory total ranks third among coaches in all divisions and his career winning percentage of .694 is also among the all-time leaders. The Warriors returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 for the ninth time in school history and seventh in the last eight seasons. Along the way, they posted a 12-5-2 overall record, 10-3-1 in the conference, which featured a 5-0 blanking of Saint Rose, who advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Mejaíl earned his eighth Northeast-10 Coach of the Year honors for his efforts.
Mejaíl has overseen the development of numerous
all-conference performers and 19 of his players have earned
All-America honors including (class): Gabrielle Gramprey ’10,
Caitlin Hall ’09, Heather Macedo ’08, Hillary McGarr
’08, Lindsay Sheffield ’06, Laurie Lamoureux ’05,
Patty Cronin ’03, Rachel McCarthy ’02, Alison Skoglund
’02, Annmarie Yutkins ’02, Lisa Jensen ’00, Sue
Cookson ’00, Jen Kusz ’97, Kathryn Barkman ’96,
Nancy Daly ’95, Bethann O’Leary ’91, Beth
Licopoli ’90, Sue Plante ’90 and Michelle Muise
’88. The Warriors play in conference has been nothing short
of dominant, as Merrimack stands at 203-55-17 (.786) in league play
since 1985. Over that same time, Mejaíl has coached his club
to six Northeast-10 tournament titles, eight Northeast-10 regular
season crowns, and nine appearances in the ECAC tournament,
including the 1988 & 2000 championships. He
has also led the Warriors to nine appearances in NCAA post-season
play, including one Elite Eight appearance in 1996.
Along with the victories and championships have come the coaching
accolades for Mejaíl. He was named the Northeast-10 Coach of
the Year on eight occasions: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1996,
2003 and 2008. In addition he was named the National Soccer Coaches
Association of America (NSCAA) Regional and New England
Women’s Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) Coach of
the Year in 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2002 and 2003. Mejaíl
also received NEWISA’s Service Award in 1992. Mejaíl
started his coaching career at Wheaton College, coaching there from
1979 to 1982.
Born and raised in Argentina, Mejaíl moved to the United
States in 1969, gaining citizenship in 1974. He studied urban
planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned
his degree in 1978. He earned his master’s degree in
education from Harvard University in 1989 and now teaches at
Buckingham Browne and Nichols School. Mejaíl and his family
reside in Reading, Mass.
Paul Athanasiadis enters his ninth year as the associate coach
at Merrimack. He joined the Warrior soccer program in 2001
following nine years as head coach at Marian High School.
During his tenure at Marian, Athanasiadis guided the school to a
135-38-18 record and captured the 1999 Massachusetts State
Championship. As a result, he was named Coach of the Year by the
Boston Globe, Eastern Massachusetts Coaches Association and the
Metro West Daily News. He is a former Massachusetts Youth Olympic
Development Program state team coach, and also served as an
assistant with the Boston Storm semi-professional team from
1994-95.
Athanasiadis led the Massachusetts Amateur State team to a
regional championship in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and
a National Championship in 2001. He resides in Lexington, Mass.
with his wife, Danielle, and their three children – Emily,
George and Nadia.
Rich Perry enters his third season as the goalkeepers coach with
the Merrimack College women’s soccer staff.
Prior to coming to Merrimack, Perry spent six years as an
assistant soccer coach at Littleton High School and has also worked
with the Inter-Bandits club team since 2005. Perry also served as
an assistant coach for the Massachusetts State Select Team in 2006,
2007 and 2008.
Perry began his coaching career as a volunteer at his alma mater,
Dickinson College, in 1993, while also volunteering his time at the
local YMCA, both as a coach and league administrator. He coached
the junior high school girls’ soccer team in Bedford in 1993
and the boys in 1994, and later assisted with the varsity team in
1995. Perry returned to Littleton and coached from 1996-98 before
moving onto Lasell College in 1999, where he served as an assistant
in 1999 and 2000.
Perry is currently a system administrator at Navisite Corporation,
where he has worked since 2003.
A 2002 graduate and former NSCAA Division II All-American Warrior goalkeeper, Alison Skoglund returns to Merrimack College for her second stint as assistant under Head Coach Gabe Mejail. In 2004, she helped the women's squad to a 15-5-1 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the interim, she was an assistant coach at Salve Regina under Head Coach Kerri Scroope for two seasons.
Prior to her coaching career, Skoglund left her mark on the
Merrimack College record books as the record-holder for wins
in a season (19), a Regional All-American and Northeast-10
Conference 'Goalkeeper of the Year'. Bringing vast on-field
experience back to campus, she is third all-time in
goalkeeper minutes in a season (1,950) and fourth all-time in
career minutes (5,760). She also ranks tops in the past
decade for career saves (425) and third all-time. She
finished her career with 54 wins, good for second all-time behind
Sue Plante '90 (57).
