Jan. 23, 2008

MEMPHIS - The University of Memphis men's soccer program has added Mat Santoro as an assistant coach, head coach Richie Grant announced Wednesday.

"I am really pleased to add Mat to our program," Grant said. "He has the playing experience, the coaching experience and the personality to have a big influence."

Santoro comes to Memphis from Davis and Elkins College where he served as the head women's soccer coach for four years. Under Santoro, his teams set school records for overall wins, conference wins, goals scored and all-conference selections.

Prior to that, Santoro was an assistant coach and for four years at Rowan University in New Jersey. There he was the program's primary recruiter and was part of a staff that led Rowan to the Division III Final Four in 2001.

Santoro played collegiately for one year at the University of Maryland before transferring to Rowan. As a player at Rowan, he was named all-conference three times, all-region twice and was a member of the 1990 Division III National Championship team. Santoro played professionally in the United States for four years prior to getting into coaching.

He will join the Tigers on the sidelines when they host Lambuth University on Feb.22 at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in a spring exhibition match-up.