Peoria City soccer coach leads his college team to NCAA national championship
Peoria is celebrating an NCAA national championship soccer team from a thousand miles away.
Franklin Pierce won the NCAA Division II men’s soccer national title on Saturday, defeating Colorado State-Pueblo 2-0 in Seattle.
Franklin Pierce is led by head coach Ruben Resendes and assistant Brendan Pacheco, who last season both coached Peoria City — the area's entry into the USL League Two.
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The NCAA title was the seventh by Franklin Pierce and the first since 2007. Resendes and Pacheco have been at the New Hampshire school for four seasons. Franklin Pierce also won 25 games, setting a school mark and tying the 2015 Pfeiffer University team for the most by an NCAA Division II national champ.
Peoria City went 6-4-3 to make the playoffs in its inaugural 2022 season, losing in the first round to Chicago FC United.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: NCAA soccer: Peoria City coach leads Franklin Pierce to national title
