Kiki Lara starts his second year at EIU after being hired by EIU Director of Athletics Tom Michael as the ninth head coach in the history of the Panther men’s soccer program in March of 2015.
Recently, Lara was promoted to Director of Soccer overseeing both the men’s and women’s soccer programs for the 2016 season.
In Lara’s first year as head men’s soccer coach he led the Panther men’s soccer team to a 3-14 overall record while going 1-5 in Summit League play. Under his tutelage during the 2015 season, freshmen Trevor Kerns and Brandon McDonough were named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team while Sophomore goalkeeper Mike Novotny earned Second-Team All-Summit League accolades.
Lara came to EIU following a successful stint as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton where he was on the staff since 2009. He helped the program win the 2009 Atlantic 10 Regular Season title. Focusing on the defensive side of the program he played a crucial role in the Dayton program recording shutouts in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. During the 2014 season the Flyers post seven shutouts including a string of four straight early in the season. Dayton finished the season with a 0.94 goals against average as they finished 7-7-5.