Heading into his 16th season overall as part of Raider men's soccer, Mike Tracy has seen the program develop into a solid one on the Division I scene. He has had success at each level with the Wright State soccer program and continues to direct them as one of the major threats on a local, regional and national level.
The 2007 season ended with an 8-13 overall mark and WSU placed sixth in the Horizon League with a 4-5 mark. For the second straight season, the Raiders garnered the Horizon League's Newcomer of the Year honor, with rookie defender Carl Ebers taking home the award.
In 2006, the Raiders posted an 8-9-1 record and led the Raiders to an eighth place regional ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. WSU was tied for eight with Wisconsin and Michigan in the All-Great Lakes Region Poll. The Green and Gold were also ranked 35th in total offense in the final NCAA statistical rankings. Freshman Braden Fleak ranked among the top-20 goal scorers in 2006 and Tebias Mason ranked third nationally in saves-per-game. Along with the national ranking, Fleak set the WSU Division I single season scoring record with 13 goals. The freshman added three assists and ended the season with 29 points, ranking among the top-ten scoring freshman in the nation.
The Green and Gold posted a 7-3-1 record against non-league opponents last season and won six of their first eight games. Their non-league triumphs included wins over Birmingham Southern, Central Florida and Jacksonville, all on the road. Three teams on the Raiders schedule made the NCAA Tournament field, as UIC, Loyola and UAB all made the field of 48. Of their nine losses, six of those were by one goal, and WSU played nationally-ranked UIC twice in overtime. Their second game against UIC was a 0-0 tie after two overtimes in the Horizon League Tournament, a game that ended wth WSU falling ten-to-nine in penalty kicks.
Tracy was selected as the Ohio Division I Coach of the Year in 2001 as he led the Raiders to a 12-7-1 record overall and a fourth-place finish in the Horizon League. Five Wright State players in all received post-season honors that season, including midfielder Travis Sobers, who was named as the Ohio Player of the Year as well as First Team All-Mideast Region and First Team All-Horizon League.
The Raiders posted a road win over eventual NCAA participant Oakland in 2002, started 6-2 in 2003 and recorded 10 wins for the third time under Tracy's tenure in 2005. Tracy has watched his Raiders advance to the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament in four of his seven seasons.
Tracy has coached 20 players to all-league honors, including seven first team performers, and has had three players selected to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Team. In 2006, Braden Fleak was named Newcomer of the Year and selected to the College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team. Carl Ebers earned the newcomer of the year award in 2007 to make WSU the only school to win back-to-back awards more than once. The Raiders have also had six players selected to the All-Ohio Team during Tracy's six seasons at the helm.
Named as WSU's eighth all-time head coach on April 25, 2001, Tracy replaced Raider Hall of Famer Hylton Dayes, who took the head coaching job at Cincinnati. Tracy has posted 63 wins during his time as the frontman for the men's program and has three 10+ win seasons.
Tracy's association with Raider soccer began with a strong four-year playing career from 1989-92. He played in 76 games for Wright State over his career, starting 68 of them, and scored four goals along with 13 assists during that time. In 1992, Tracy tied for the team lead with seven assists and in 1991 he netted a career high with three goals that season.
Selected as the team's Rookie of the Year in 1989, Tracy was selected Second Team All-Big Central Soccer Conference as a sophomore in 1990. He then earned a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in communication from WSU in 1994.
Tracy then returned to Wright State in 1997 as an assistant coach under Dayes. The 1998 team posted an 11-7-3 record and a 5-1-1 mark in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. That team also advanced to the championship match of the MCC Tournament, only to fall in double overtime to Butler. The 1999 team followed by posting the first-ever conference tournament win for the program.
Away from WSU, Tracy was the head coach for Team Dayton `83, a team that went 4-0 in winning the 2001 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship. He also serves as an instructor for many regional camps and has been involved with several camps while at Wright State.
A native of Fenton, Missouri, Tracy was an All-Missouri and All-Midwest pick as a senior as he led Vianney High School to the state semifinals and a 24-6-2 record.
Tracy and his wife Joylynn, who played volleyball at Wright State and was the head coach of that program for seven years, were married in December 1998. They reside in Dayton with their six-year-old son, Mattaus.
