<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Dartmouth Press Release:\u00A0 Jeff Cook announced today that he is stepping down from his role as the Dartmouth men\u2019s soccer head coach to accept a position with the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS). Cook served as the Big Green\u2019s head coach for 12 years and posted an overall record of 106-74-31 while leading his squad to five Ivy League titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances.\u201CWe are deeply grateful for the profound impact Jeff has had on our program and on the lives of his student-athletes,\u201D said Dartmouth Athletics Director Harry Sheehy. \u201CWe at Dartmouth wish him many years of success at the professional level. Jeff will always be a member of the Big Green family.\u201DCook set a foundation for excellence within the men\u2019s soccer program, achieving success in the Ivy League and on the national level. Over the past nine seasons, Dartmouth earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament seven times, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2008 and again in 2010. His players earned All-Ivy League accolades 61 times, including 23 first-team selections and two Ivy League Players of the Year in Craig Henderson \u201909 and Lucky Mkosana \u201911.\u00A0Cook\u2019s players have gone on to success at the professional level as well with Daniel Keat (2007-10) and Mkosana (2008-11) both drafted by MLS squads. Keat was a Supplemental Draft selection of the Los Angeles Galaxy, while the Chicago Fire made Mkosana the first Big Green player to be taken in the SuperDraft with the No. 23 pick in 2011.Dartmouth last claimed the Ivy League title in 2011 and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which marked its fifth consecutive postseason appearance, a distinction only 12 teams in the country could boast.Dartmouth won back-to-back Ivy League championships in 2004 and 2005, dropping only one Ivy contest in those two years. Cook and the Big Green advanced for the first time in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after defeating Boston College on penalty kicks, before falling to the eventual national champion, Wake Forest.The Big Green posted one of their most successful seasons in 2010, recording a 12-7-1 record and advancing to the Sweet 16, taking No. 8 UCLA to double overtime. The 12 wins were the most for the Big Green under Cook\u2019s tutelage.\u00A0\u201CServing as the head men\u2019s soccer coach at Dartmouth has been a tremendous honor,\u201D said Cook. \u201CFor the last 12 years, I have committed everything I have to developing our program and our student-athletes on and off the field, and am very proud of what we have been able to achieve. This career opportunity would never have been possible without the outstanding support I have received during my time at Dartmouth \u2014 from the athletic administration, colleagues within the athletic department, alumni and friends from the Upper Valley community, and most importantly our student-athletes.\u201DPrior to taking over at Dartmouth, Cook was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati from 1996-2000 and was named the 1997 Conference USA Coach of the Year. Cook led the Bearcats to the school's first NCAA berth in 1998 and a No. 15 national ranking in 1999. The Bearcats earned Conference USA tournament bids during each of Cook's five years and\u00A0advanced to the semifinals twice. Two of Cook\u2019s players earned NSCAA All-America honors, the first such recognition for a Bearcat player.Cook served as an assistant coach under Dartmouth head coach Fran O\u2019Leary for two seasons (1994 and \u201995) and also served as the Director of Coaching for the Upper Valley Lightning Soccer program in the Upper Valley.A 1989 graduate of Bates College, Cook began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Massachusetts before becoming the head coach at Division III Wheaton where he posted a 31-22-4 record.More from Jeff Cook on his departure\u201CThe decision to accept this\u00A0coaching\u00A0position\u00A0with the Philadelphia Union Youth Academy was a difficult one\u00A0because\u00A0it meant I had to leave Dartmouth College, an institution I believe in deeply and have been\u00A0privileged\u00A0to represent. I would not have left Dartmouth for another collegiate coaching position, but could not\u00A0turn\u00A0down what I\u00A0believe\u00A0is a once-in-a-career opportunity to join the Union and Major League Soccer at a very exciting time for soccer in the United States. The unfortunate reality of a coaching career is that in order to progress and move forward\u00A0professionally,\u00A0it almost always requires moving away from what you know, and in our case we will miss everyone at Dartmouth and in the Upper Valley very much.\u201D\u201CThis coaching position with the Philadelphia Union Youth Academy is very exciting and I look forward to working with the club in their\u00A0efforts\u00A0to develop an outstanding youth development academy. The Union are incredibly\u00A0committed to youth development, and that message shone through as I learned more about their plans and the specific nature of my role. I\u00A0believe\u00A0passionately in the\u00A0quality\u00A0of the American youth player, and\u00A0the\u00A0Union will provide a pathway for some of the most outstanding\u00A0youth players in the country to progress towards the\u00A0elite\u00A0level of our sport.\u201D\u201CDartmouth remains a fantastic institution for student-athletes to pursue excellence in all areas of\u00A0their\u00A0life, and I\u00A0believe\u00A0that the best days are ahead for men's soccer and the entire athletic department. It has been a\u00A0wonderful\u00A0place to coach and to call home, and I look forward to following the future successes of the Big Green athletic program. I'd like to acknowledge the support of both\u00A0Harry\u00A0Sheehy and Drew Galbraith\u00A0throughout my time as head coach as well as during this time of transition.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmur.com/article/dartmouth-men-s-soccer-coach-cook-leaves/5180683>