Hall of Fame
From the moment he took the reins of the program, Wayne Mones established the Western Connecticut State University men’s soccer team as one of the premier programs in New England.
WestConn posted a record of 212-89-34 during Mones 16 seasons (1988-2003) as head coach, which included three Little East Conference (LEC) titles, seven NCAA Division III Championship Tournament appearances, and three ECAC tournament appearances. WestConn never had a losing season under Mones’ leadership, winning 10-or-more matches in 14 of his 16 seasons. His program-record 17 wins in 1992 stood until 2021, while his 212 career victories remain the most in program history.
WestConn joined the LEC for the 1993-94 academic year, and was immediately one of the top programs in the league. Mones guided WestConn to the conference title just one year later, and repeated as champions the following year. WestConn was back on top as LEC regular season champion in 2002, going 14-3-5 overall with a near-perfect 6-1-0 record in league play as Mones won his first and only LEC Coach of the Year award.
Mones would lead WestConn to the LEC tournament championship in his final season in 2003 as the No. 4 seed, upsetting top-seeded Plymouth State University 2-0 in the semifinals before defeating second-seeded Keene State College 1-0 in overtime to win the program’s first-ever LEC tournament crown. WestConn then defeated Johnson & Wales University 1-0 in the First Round before batting Williams College to a 1-1 draw in the Second Round (the Ephs advanced on penalties, 4-2).
Mones led WestConn to each of its first seven NCAA tournament appearances - three of those berths were as a member of the LEC (1994, 1998, 2003) - with the first coming in just his second season in 1989. WestConn advanced to the Elite Eight in 1992, its best NCAA tournament showing to-date.
WestConn players totaled 45 All-LEC honors during Mones’ tenure, with three winning major awards. Doug Morabito was named LEC Player of the Year in 1994, while Mark Pataky was named the LEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003, the first two years of that award, and Brad Fidler was named LEC Rookie of the Year in 2003.
WestConn would total 21 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region awards. Three of those players would garner All-America honors from the NSCAA - current WestConn head coach Joe Mingachos (1989), Morabito (1994) and Jason Rakauskas (1994).
Mones was inducted in the Western Connecticut State University Hall of Fame in 2009.