Worth Noting:
- NEC Tournament championship in 2005
- NEC regular-season championship in 2001
- NEC Coach of the Year in 2001
From the time he took over the men’s soccer program at Robert Morris University, head coach Bill Denniston needed just four years to take the program from three wins to a Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season championship. Denniston, who won NEC Coach of the Year in 2001 and led the Colonials to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, is entering his 23rd season in 2019.
20 players have made NSCAA All-Region teams under Denniston’s tutelage, and numerous alumni have gone on to play professionally, including three-time NEC Player of the Year Neco Brett, who was selected in the second round (40th overall) in the 2016 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft by the Portland Timbers. Brett was also the program's first All-American selection. Another alumnus, Devon “Speedy” Williams, has appeared on the Jamaican National Team and helped lead his United Soccer League (USL) teams (New York Red Bulls II, Louisville City FC) to championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Denniston guided RMU to its second NEC Tournament in three seasons in 2017, thanks to a pair of victories against LIU Brooklyn and Sacred Heart. The Colonials, who were selected to finish eighth in the preseason poll, posted a 3-3-1 NEC record to secure the fourth seed, ultimately falling to eventual league champion St. Francis Brooklyn in the semifinals. Bayley Winkel gained All-NEC First Team honors after becoming the 11th player in program history to score double-digit goals in a season, while Keane McIvor collected his third consecutive Second Team accolade.
The 2015 team also competed in the NEC Tournament after finishing the season with a 10-8-1 overall record and 4-2-1 mark in league play. Denniston’s squad featured Brett and four other All-NEC honorees, including Second Team members Bennett Jull, Keane McIvor and Lucas Puntillo, along with Zac Sherman, who joined Puntillo on the Rookie Team. The Colonials averaged 1.47 goals per game and led the conference in assists per contest with an identical mark, while also claiming the league lead in saves per game at 5.95.
In 2010, Robert Morris finished the season at 9-7-3 overall and 5-3-2 in conference. Although a tiebreaker kept the team out of the NEC Tournament, the Colonials – who subsequently featured the most points ever by a NEC team not to make the playoffs – were led by seven underclassmen in the starting lineup. RMU outdid its preseason projection of 10th and posted its winningest season since 2006.
The aforementioned 2006 campaign saw the Colonials bounce back from a 0-1-2 start in conference to finish 4-1-1 and earn the fourth seed in the NEC Tournament. RMU lost to eventual NEC champion Monmouth in the semifinals, ending what was a remarkable late season surge into the postseason.
In 2005, Robert Morris claimed its third NEC championship in program history and second (regular-season and tournament) under the guidance of Denniston. That team finished 11-8-4, the program’s most wins during the Denniston era.
Denniston earned NEC Coach of the Year honors in 2001 after leading the Colonials to their first NEC regular-season crown since 1996. He followed that up by taking RMU to back-to-back NEC Tournaments in 2002 and 2003.
Prior to his stint with Robert Morris, Denniston served three years as the head coach at Alderson Broaddus (W. Va.) University, guiding the Battlers to a record of 37-17-4 and a national ranking in each of his three seasons. His 1995 squad finished with a national ranking of No. 11 – the first year the school participated in NCAA Division II athletics – and for those efforts he was named the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Coach of the Year. While with Alderson Broaddus, Denniston also served as an assistant athletic director.
Before becoming head coach of the Battlers, Denniston spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Bethany (W. Va.) College men’s soccer program. During his time there, Bethany finished with a national ranking of No. 14 or higher in NCAA Division III competition, including a No. 2 ranking in 1993.
A 1983 graduate of Bethany with a degree in physical education, Denniston was a four-year All-Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC) selection and three-year All-American. He was also named PAC Most Valuable Player in 1980, was captain of the 1982 Bison squad that was a national finalist, and was a Senior Bowl nominee in 1982.
A father of three, Denniston resides in Moon Township.
