Juan Espinal named Associate Head Coach for Drury men’s soccer

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Drury men’s soccer head coach Ben Taylor announced the promotion of Juan Espinal to associate head coach.
 
Espinal served as the assistant coach for the Panthers during the last two seasons and has helped the program to a 15-10-11 record overall with a 12-4-10 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury has had six players named to the All-GLVC team in addition to one All-Region selection in that span.
 
“I am excited for Juan to receive this promotion because he works extremely hard every day for Drury and the men’s soccer program,” said Taylor. “He has been instrumental in developing all aspects of the program and will continue to make everyone he works with and coaches better.
 
“Juan is a very good coach; knows the game inside-out and aligns with the brand of soccer we want to play at Drury. It is a pleasure to have him here at Drury and I am excited to continue pursuing championships with him by my side. The best is yet to come.”
 
Espinal joined the Drury men’s soccer staff in 2021 after a two-season stint as the head coach of Indian Hills Community College, where he led the Warriors to a 24-7-3 record and coached 14 ICCAC All-Region players and 36 ICCAC All-Academic team honorees.  
 
Earlier this year, Espinal was inducted into the Muscatine High School Hall of Fame in Iowa. He was a four-year varsity starter on the soccer team there from 2008-12 and was a first-team all-conference pick as a sophomore, junior and senior. In his senior year, Espinal registered 32 goals, 16 assists and also received First Team All-State honors.   
 
Juan played for the 1994 Iowa Olympic Development Program (ODP) team throughout his middle and high school years, winning three regional titles and winning a national championship in 2011 at the ODP National Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.   
 
Espinal also played for Eastern Iowa United, based out of Iowa City, Iowa, known as one of the best club teams in the state of Iowa coached under Jon Cook, winning back-to-back state cups and competing at the regional tournament.   
 
Juan has competed at the Semi-Professional level in both the Professional Development League (PDL) and in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), playing for the Springfield Demize in 2013 (PDL) and playing for the Quad City Eagles in 2014 (NPSL). 
 
Espinal attended Iowa Central Community College from 2012-2014, where he obtained his AA degree and competed at the NJCAA division one level. In 2012, he helped the Tritons to a number six national ranking. He was a two-year starter and a second-team All-Region award winner at Iowa Central.  Juan continued his collegiate career at Texas A&M International University from 2014-2016. 
 
He currently holds his USSF coaching E license and is working toward a USSF D license. 
 
 
 
 
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