Lolla named Coach of the Year

Soccer America magazine has named University of Louisville’s Ken Lolla the Men’s Coach of the Year.

Lolla, who led Louisville to the Men's College Cup for the first time, also won the award in 2005, his last season at Akron before leaving for the Cardinals.

Louisville's 1-0 loss to Akron in the championship decider was its only defeat of the 2010 season, following a remarkable NCAA tournament run.

Despite freezing temperatures and snow, 5,467 fans packed Cardinal Park for the quarterfinal match against UCLA, a 5-4 victory for Louisville that will go down as one of the epic matches in the history of the NCAA tournament.

Such was the madness that police had to shoo cars along as drivers stopped to get a peak of the action.

Lolla has taken Louisville (20-1-3), a program with no previous winning tradition, and made it into a national contender, said Soccer America.

Others to have won the award in past years include Indiana’s Jerry Yeagley (2003), and Jim DeRose of the 2007 Bradley team that included Floyd Knobs’ defender Brad Snook.

Meanwhile, Cards’ junior forward Colin Rolfe was named on the magazine’s MVP first team, along with Indiana’s Will Bruin. Louisville defender Austin Berry was named on the second team. The awards honor the players who have the biggest impact on their team’s success, regardless of position.