COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican Athletic Director Bill Blazer recently announced that former assistant coach Willy Merrick will be named the new head men's soccer coach at Ohio Dominican University .   Merrick becomes the program's eighth head coach in school history.

"Willy Merrick comes highly recommended by his peers and many others for this position," said Blazer.   "We're really happy he has accepted the position and expects the men's soccer program to continue to build on its recent success under his direction."
        
Merrick spent three seasons as the top assistant to former head coach Eric Nichols and will inherit a team he is familiar with and helped to build in the past three seasons.   The Panthers went 19-3-0 in 2007 and made their first trip to the national tournament in school history.       more

"First and foremost I want to thank Eric for recommending me for the job and I would also like to thank Bill Blazer for giving me this wonderful opportunity to continue to coach at Ohio Dominican," said Merrick .   "Eric has given the soccer program national recognition during his time here and we want to continue to build on that.  I look forward to the challenges of coaching the Ohio Dominican Soccer program," adds Merrick .

Prior to joining the Panther staff, Merrick spent five years as the head varsity soccer coach at his alma mater, Thomas Worthington High School . During his time at Thomas Worthington, he led the team to the 2001 Ohio High School State Championship, earning a ranking of sixth on the USA Today National Top 25 Boys High School Soccer Coaches poll. In 2002 Thomas Worthington made another run at the state title, finishing as the State runners-up to Hudson High School . In 2000, Merrick was named the Ohio Capital Conference Coach of the Year.

Merrick has also held coaching positions at Westerville North High School and with the Eagles Soccer Club of Upper Arlington. He is also currently the associate director of coaching at NCSL Eagles, a club that features elite players from U9-U19.

He began playing collegiate soccer with the University of Rio Grande before transferring to Marshall University where he was a three year letter winner in soccer and football. He was a member of the 1992 Division I-AA National Championship football team at Marshall , kicking the game-winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining to give the Thundering Herd a 31-28 win over Youngstown State in the title game.

Merrick then went on to play seven years of professional soccer, including stints with the Buffalo Blizzards of the NPSL, the Columbus XOGGZ of the United States Independent Soccer League (USISL), the Cincinnati Silverbacks, the Columbus Invaders and the Indiana Blast (USISL).

Merrick recently earned his bachelor of arts degree in cross disciplinary studies from Ohio Dominican in 2007.

COLUMBUS , Ohio – Ohio Dominican Athletic Director Bill Blazer recently announced that he has accepted the resignation of Ohio Dominican head men's soccer coach Eric Nichols.

"Eric Nichols has been a leader, both on the field and with our department for the past four years," said Blazer.   "We wish Eric and his family all the best in their future endeavors and most of all we'll miss his departmental humor."

Nichols will continue his duties as head coach through May 1, after which he will move on to become the assistant soccer coach at NCAA I Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.     more

"It's tough to leave Ohio Dominican right now with all the growth and excitement the University is experiencing," said Nichols.   "This is a special group of young men who hold each other to extremely high standards.   I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them and expect nothing but great things in the future for ODU's soccer program."

Nichols ends his tenure at Ohio Dominican after four years as head coach.    During his time patrolling the Panthers sidelines, Nichols compiled an overall record of 59-21-2.   The Panthers' head coach had an impressive year in 2007 as he was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

Prior to the record setting season this year, Nichols was named the American Mideast Conference South Division Coach of the Year on two separate occasions and was voted AMC South Coach of the Year again this season for the third time in four years. Nichols was also named the NAIA Region IX Coach of the Year this season.

In his final season, Nichols helped lead the Panthers to a 19-3-0 record and earned their first trip to the NAIA National Championships, eventually losing in the quarter-finals, which put them on the map as national contenders.

The Panthers' defense led the nation, averaging .27 goals against per game. The Panthers set a school-record by only allowing six goals in 22 games and broke school records for fewest assists against (2), goals against average (.27) and most shutouts in a season (18).

The Panthers' offense was strong, averaging 2.65 goals per game. The team also broke school records for wins in a season (19), most consecutive road wins (8), most home wins (7) and most games played (22).

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican men's soccer head coach Eric Nichols, after leading the Panthers to their first ever NAIA National Tournament, was recently named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

Nichols, in just four years at Ohio Dominican, has revived the men's soccer team and led the Panthers to 59 wins and a conference title in 2006.    Prior to the record setting season this year Nichols has been named the American Mideast Conference South Division Coach of the Year on two separate occasions and was voted AMC South Coach of the Year again this season for the third time in four years.   Nichols was also named the NAIA Region IX Coach of the Year this season.  more

The Panthers finished the season with a 19-3-0 record and their first trip to the NAIA National Tournament in Olathe , Kansas .   ODU defeated the University of Maine-Fort Kent in their opening round game, 7-0, before losing to No. 5 seed Simon Fraser 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

COLUMBUS , Ohio – The NAIA recently announced their 2007 Men's Soccer Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. The award is given to student-athletes of junior or senior status who maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better. Ohio Dominican's Chip Bailey was honored with the award.

Bailey, a senior defender from Fairfield , Ohio , finished with a pair of goals and a team-leading nine assists for the season. His play on the defensive end helped lead the Panthers to a record of 19-3 and the program's first-ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament. Bailey is an accounting major at ODU.  more

"Chip has been an absolute joy to have on the team," said Panther Head Coach Eric Nichols. "He just quietly goes about doing top-quality work both as a student and as a player."