Brenton Saylor is in his second season as an assistant coach/goalkeepers coach for the Eastern Kentucky University women's soccer team. Saylor joined the Colonels after spending two years as the graduate assistant women’s soccer coach/goalkeepers coach at UT Martin.
“Brenton is a great addition to our coaching staff,” head coach Lindsay Basalyga said of his hiring. “He will help us immediately, both on and off the field because he knows the conference and understands what we need to do to continue to grow in the OVC. This is the first time we have had a qualified goalkeepers coach on staff, and I’m excited about the addition.”
In 2010, Saylor coached two-time All-OVC goalkeeper Stephanie Lynch as she broke every major goalkeeping record in EKU history, led the Colonels to six shutouts and only surrendered six goals in eight OVC games. However, he also played a large role in the development of then-freshman Lyndsay Vance, who started one game over Lynch and made the most of it: playing all 110 minutes of a hotly-contested, double overtime scoreless draw against Valparaiso, a team that, up until then, had not been shut out all season. Vance was named the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week for her performance.
This season, Saylor will face a world without Lynch, as he prepares Vance and newcomer Annie Wickett to play at the most important position on the field for the duration of an OVC season.
While Saylor was at UT Martin, the Skyhawks were one of the top soccer programs in the OVC, winning the regular season conference title in 2009 with a 9-7 record and reaching the finals of the OVC Tournament in 2008 after recording a regular season record of 10-5-2. The Skyhawks finished the 2008 season with 21st lowest goals against average in the country.
Saylor also contributed to several individual success stories while coaching at UT Martin. From 2008-09, two Skyhawks were named first team All-OVC, five were named second team All-OVC, five were named to the OVC All-Newcomer team and one was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2008, UTM goalkeeper Johanna Rathbun broke 10 school records and maintained the 25th lowest goals against average in the country. In 2009, the Skyhawks’ keeper, Aubrey Buehler, was named to the OVC All-Newcomer team and earned conference Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the week of November 2.
Saylor was also instrumental in the Skyhawks’ high academic standards while he was there. In 2009, UTM’s Jamie Furstenburg received the OVC All-Conference Scholar Athlete award, and five players received NSCAA Academic All-American recognition during Saylor’s tenure. In 2008, UTM received the OVC Team Academic Achievement award with a team GPA of 3.66.
Saylor served as the Skyhawks’ interim head coach for a month after former head coach Craig Roberts departed in February.
Before arriving at UT Martin, Saylor served as an assistant boy’s soccer coach at Liberty Magnet High School in Jackson, Tenn from 2006-08. While working in Jackson, Saylor also served as the Director of Goalkeeping for the Jackson Wolves Soccer Club.
Before pursuing a career in coaching, Saylor was the starting goalkeeper at Lambuth University from 2004-07. During his stellar career at Lambuth, Saylor was an honorable mention NAIA All-American and an NAIA All-Region selection and Lambuth’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2007. He also helped lead the Eagles to a Trans-South conference championship while he was there.
Saylor earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Lambuth in 2008 and is currently working on a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on health and human performance at UT Martin.
