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4 2011 Stags Volleyball
Meet theStaff
Now in his eighth season at the helm of the Fairfield University women's soccer
program, Jim O'Brien has compiled the second most number of victories, 68, in
program history. He has led the Stags to a .563 win percentage during his tenure,
as well as two NCAA Tournament berths, numerous honors and accolades on the
field and in the classroom, and votes in national coaches polls.
O'Brien, now in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach, coached his 300th
collegiate game in the Stags September 18, 2011 win over Stony Brook on
Lessing Field and has won over 60 percent of those games. He begins the 2012
campaign with a career record of 173-106-34 between his seven years with
Fairfield and nine seasons at the helm of the women's program at Southern
Connecticut State University. O'Brien has 10 double-digit win seasons to his cred-
it, including a program-record 15 with the Stags in 2008 and a school-record 19
with the Owls in 2000. He has coached in three NCAA Tournaments, two at
Fairfield, and has 14 campaigns with a .500 or better record.
Personal accolades have followed O'Brien at each of his coaching stops. He was
named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas
Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2008. The Stags finished the year with 15
wins, an NCAA Tournament berth and a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
Championship. Fairfield received 16 votes in the final NSCAA National poll, mark-
ing the second straight season with votes in the national poll.
Fairfield returned to postseason play in 2011, finishing fourth in the MAAC with a
4-2-3 record. O'Brien has had four or more league wins in each of his first seven
seasons with the Stags, and is 82-35-17 in MAAC regular season action. Fairfield
has made five MAAC Championship appearances under O'Brien's tutelage with
titles coming in 2005 and 2008.
A trademark of O'Brien coached squads is defense and 2011 was no different.
Fairfield blanked 10 opponents during the season and finished the year ranked
15th in the nation with a .632 GAA. Backstopping that effort was Kelly Boudreau,
who became the second Stag to earn MAAC Defensive Player of the Year acco-
lades and the fifth Stag to earn a major postseason conference award under
O'Brien's tutelage. Boudreau also earned NSCAA All-Northeast Region Third Team
honors, which was trumped by Lauren Reilly's selection to the organizations All-
Northeast Region Second Team.
It did not take long for O'Brien to take the Stags to the pinnacle of the league, lead-
ing the team to the MAAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in his
first season at the helm. The Stags became the first-ever number-five seed to win
the conference title, avenging all of its regular season MAAC losses along the way.
In 2008 the Stags once again tasted post-season success, winning the league
title for the second time in four years. Fairfield needed a 5-4 edge in penalty kicks
to knock off Siena, on its home field, in the MAAC Championship semifinal, before
riding MVP Ahna Johnson to a 3-0 blanking of Loyola in the title game.
While the 2006 and 2007 seasons did not end with trophy celebrations for the
Stags, there were numerous on-field highlights, with the squad qualifying for the
MAAC Tournament each season. The 2007 campaign got off to a quick start, as
the Stags won the Denver Classic, highlighted by a tie with #14 Colorado, which
resulted in Fairfield earning votes in the national polls. The Stags would play three
Jim O’Brien
Head Coach – Eighth Season
O’Brien poised for eighth season at the helm of the Stags women’s soccer program.