Jeremy Spering enters his 16th season as the head coach of the Shippensburg University men’s soccer program in 2023.

During his tenure as the Raider head coach, Spering has directed SU men’s soccer to numerous milestones – including school records for single-season wins, most consecutive victories, longest undefeated streak, single-season goals, and the most all-conference selections in a single season.

Most recently, Spering guided the Raiders to a perfect 4-0-0 out-of-conference record during the 2022 season.

In 2018, Shippensburg went 10-3-4 – marking the fewest losses in a single season in 31 years. SU hosted its first conference playoff match in eight years while allowing its fewest goals (14) and recording its most shutouts (eight) in a season since the school records for each were set back in 1987.

The 2018 campaign also featured SU’s first men’s soccer player to receive a PSAC Fall Top 10 award (All-PSAC and All-Region midfielder Patrick Luebben), the PSAC’s points leader (All-PSAC and All-Region forward Cole Kropnick), the PSAC’s leader in save percentage (goalkeeper Garret Watson), and two Google Cloud Academic All-District honorees (Luebben and senior defender Logan Koch).

Upon his arrival at Shippensburg in 2008, Spering inherited a rebuilding program. After winning just one game in each of his first two seasons, Spering guided SU to a school-record 14 victories in 2010 – marking the year’s largest single-season turnaround in Division II. The memorable 2010 campaign featured SU’s first PSAC championship since 1975 and its first NCAA tournament berth in the history of the program.

Since the start of the 2010 campaign, Spering has directed SU to 77 victories – including nine or more victories in four seasons. The Raiders have also qualified for three PSAC Tournaments and made two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Spering, the 2010 PSAC Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year and NSCAA/Mondo Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, guided the Raiders to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011 – the first two such berths in school history.

In 2011, Shippensburg posted a 9-6-2 record and boasted a defense that allowed just 17 goals in 16 regular season games – the lowest regular season opponent goals total since the current school record of nine goals allowed was established in the 1987 season.

Among the many records set by Spering’s squad in the historic 2010 season included the mark for the longest winning streak (11), longest unbeaten streak (12), wins (14) and goals scored (50). SU scored five more goals in just the second half of its matches (28) than it scored through every minute of every game from the 2008 and 2009 seasons combined. SU had already surpassed the 23 combined goals scored in 2008 and 2009 by the 11th game of the 2010 season.

Spering guided Shippensburg to a 13-win improvement from both the 2008 and the 2009 seasons. He had yet to win a home game or a league game entering the 2010 season, but SU emerged as the PSAC’s regular season and overall conference champions after posting a 6-3 mark in league play and an 8-2-1 mark at David See Field.

According to the NCAA record books, Shippensburg’s improvement from 2009 to 2010 is the sixth-best in Division II history – a 10-game margin – and ties the greatest single-season turnaround by a PSAC program. SU entered the 2010 season picked 10th out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches poll. Five of its players achieved All-PSAC recognition, the most for an SU squad since 2003.

Shippensburg made a radical transformation in terms of its record in close games. In Spering’s first two seasons, the Raiders were 0-10 in games decided by one goal. The 2010 squad finished 7-3 in one-goal games.

The 2010 and 2011 campaigns marked the first back-to-back winning seasons for SU men’s soccer since 2002-03. SU compiled a 23-12-3 record from 2010-11 after going 2-27-7 in the 2008-09 seasons.

Before arriving at Shippensburg, Spering spent four years as an assistant coach at two different institutions. In 2007, Spering was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Gettysburg Col­lege, helping guide the Bullets to a 6-4 conference record and an appearance in the Centennial Conference Tournament semifinals.

Overall, Spering had a part in 44 wins in four seasons as an assistant. He was a three-year veteran of the men’s soccer coaching staff at James Madi­son from 2004-06 and while at the school he earned his master’s degree in exercise physiology. During his tenure with the Dukes, the team averaged 12 wins per seasons and made an NCAA tournament appearance in 2005.

Spering graduated from Slippery Rock in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He was a two-year starter and two-year letter winner on The Rock men’s soccer team after lettering at Elmira College in 1997 and 1998. He also trained with the Bolton Wander­ers English Soccer Club in 1994 and the New Jersey Stallions professional soccer team from 1995-96.

While in the Pittsburgh area, Spering served as a volunteer assistant coach at Slippery Rock from 2002-04 and as a high school head coach at Knoch Area and Slippery Rock Area high schools. He also coached the Northern Steel Select youth soccer club in Butler from 1999-2004. In 2002, he guided Slip­pery Rock to the Mercer County Athletic Confer­ence championship.

Spering holds an advanced national coaching license from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The 15-year collegiate coaching veteran is also a specialist in strength and conditioning and has consulted with several camps and training programs. In 2008, Spering joined current women’s soccer head coach Rob Fulton as instructors at the Slippery Rock Men’s Soccer Camp.

A native of Frenchtown, N.J., Spering earned all-state and all-conference honors at Delaware Valley Regional High School where he was captain of the soccer team and participated in the Olympic Devel­opment Program.

Spering resides in Gettysburg with his girlfriend Sadie. They are the proud parents of their two children: son, Calvin, and daughter, Jayde.  

Spering At-A-Glance

Shippensburg University

Year     Overall             PSAC               Postseason

2022    4-8-4                0-8-4

2021    4-10-3              2-10                

2020    No season, COVID-19 pandemic

2019    2-10-3              2-9-1

2018    10-3-4              6-2-3                PSAC Quarterfinals

2017    7-8-2                5-6-0

2016    6-12-0              2-9-0

2015    7-9-0                3-8-0

2014    6-9-2                4-7-0

2013    9-7-2                6-4-1                PSAC Quarterfinals

2012    5-9-2                2-6-1               

2011    9-6-2                3-4-2                NCAA Tournament

2010    14-6-1              6-3-0                PSAC Champions

                                                            NCAA Tournament

2009    1-13-4              0-6-2

2008    1-14-3              0-8-2               

Total   85-124-32        41-90-16