E-mail Coach Fiffles

Now in his 16th season as Lewis University's head men's soccer coach, Evan Fiffles has developed one of the most respected and successful programs in NCAA Division II.

Lewis posted a 12-6-1 record last year, producing the program's 15th consecutive winning season and 15th consecutive season with at least 10 victories under Fiffles' leadership.

Fiffles' 2004 Flyer squad earned an invitation to the NCAA Division II Championship for a fourth time in five seasons, making Lewis one of only six Division II teams in the nation, and the only Great Lakes Region program, to play in at least four national tournaments during that five-year span. The Flyers posted a 16-3-3 record and ascended to the No. 2 national ranking during the season.

The 2003 Flyers claimed the Great Lakes Valley Conference title for a fifth time under Fiffles by winning the GLVC Championship tournament. That followed a second-place tie in the regular-season standings that marked the 11th time during Fiffles' tenure that Lewis has placed either first or second.

In 2002, Lewis finished atop the GLVC regular-season standings for a fifth successive year and earned the program's third consecutive NCAA Championship bid. The 2001 team achieved a 20-1-1 record - best in program history and second best in Division II that season - attained the No. 1 national ranking twice during the regular season, won the GLVC crown and finished fifth nationally with a 0.75 goals-against average.

Fiffles guided the 2000 Flyers to 17 wins - the school record prior to 2001 - and the program's first NCAA Championship bid. After beating Wisconsin-Parkside and Wheeling Jesuit in the NCAA tournament's first two rounds, Lewis fell in the semifinals to eventual national champion California State-Dominguez Hills and concluded the season ranked No. 4 nationally.

Fiffles, who began the 2007 season with a 15-year record of 202-82-24 (.695), is Lewis' all-time leading men's soccer coach in victories and winning percentage. Under his guidance, the Flyers have enjoyed 15 successive winning seasons, averaging 13.5 victories per season; won five GLVC Championship tournaments; finished first or tied for first in the GLVC regular-season standings eight times; and posted a 120-32-7 mark (.777) against GLVC opponents during the past 13 seasons.

Five Flyers have earned All-America honors playing for Fiffles. John Thompson was a first-team selection in 1999, 2000 and 2001; Sean Seaberg and Justin Sanabria made the second team in 1994 and 2004, respectively; Serafin Vega was named to the third team in 2002; and Cathal Brady was a third-team choice in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Fiffles often has been lauded for his team's accomplishments. He was named National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year and GLVC Coach of the Year in 2000, and he captured the GLVC Coach of the Year award in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998.

Fiffles coached his 1996 team to an unprecedented 14-0 mark against conference teams (11-0 regular season, 3-0 GLVC Championship). The Flyers, whose 0.40 GAA that year was third best in Division II, posted 15 shutouts (including 10 straight) and allowed just one goal to a GLVC opponent.

In 1992, Fiffles led his first Flyer men's team to the sixth-best turnaround in Division II men's soccer history. Lewis registered a 12-8-1 record after going 3-15-1 in 1991. Fiffles coached the Flyer women's soccer team in 1989 and 1990 before guiding the 1991 Moline High School boys' soccer team to a 17-2-4 record and a berth in the Illinois High School Association "Sweet 16."

Fiffles, who holds a United States Soccer Federation "A" coaching license, earned a bachelor's degree in physical education at Greenville (Ill.) College in 1982 and a master's degree in education with sports administration emphasis at Eastern Illinois University in 1985. The Oak Lawn native has coached at Richards High School, Sandburg High School, Moraine Valley Community College and in the Prairie State Games, and he has served as a staff member at the Team USA tryouts. Fiffles was an Illinois State Select coaching staff member for eight years and an Illinois State Coaching Education staff member for 10 years.

Fiffles and his wife, Julie, reside in Homer Glen with 5-year-old daughter Lia and 2-year-old son Niko.