Mark Collings enters his 14th season as head coach at his alma mater. Through the 2020 season he directed Seattle Pacific to a 129-68-32 record, two Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships and a stretch of five consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament berths from 2011-15.
His coaching highlights include school-record streaks of 13 consecutive victories and 15 games unbeaten established in 2014 along with absorbing the fewest losses in a campaign with just one in 2015 (14-1-4).
Last season was unusual, not just for SPU but the entire nation. The Covid-19 pandemic eliminated the fall playing season and a unique, abbreviated schedule was played during the spring of 2021. The GNAC did not sponsor a conference season and there were no NCAA playoffs.
The Falcons played six counting games in 2020-21 and compiled a 3-2-1 record while outscoring opponents 12-9. The quartet of Alden Massey, Travis Swallow, Sam Malloch and Tyler Speer topped the team in scoring, each of them with two goals apiece. SPU played a pair of exhbition games and tied the Tacoma Defiance, 2-2, before defeating NCAA Division I Seattle University by a 3-2 score.
A 6-6-0 conference record placed the Falcons third in the GNAC standings in 2019 and the overall record was 7-9-1. First-team all-conference forward Titus Grant led the SPU attack with nine goals and seven assists.
In 2018, Collings' young team, with 15 underclassmen, had an 8-11-0 record in 2018 with a 4-8-0 league ledger. Seven losses came by just one goal. The Falcons top six scorers were underclassmen, headlined by the breakout of sophomore forward Titus Grant, who compiled 13 goals and five assists.
The 2017 campaign saw SPU narrowly miss out on the postseason field despite an 11-5-1 record and runner-up GNAC result with a 7-4-1 mark. They placed just two points back of league-winning Simon Fraser in the standings.
Collings registered his 100th coaching victory with the Falcons on Oct. 28, 2016, a 2-1 win over Saint Martin's. His squad finished with a 6-6-5 overall record and had its string of playoff appearances halted. SPU placed fifth in the GNAC at 4-4-4.
His son, Jeffrey, completed a four-year career in 2016 as a stalwart on the defense. Neither father, nor son owns bragging rights in the scoring column as both tallied two goals during their SPU careers.
Collings collected his third GNAC Coach of the Year award (also 2010 & 2014) after directing SPU to a 14-1-4 record in 2015 and the team's fifth straight NCAA Division II playoff berth. They won the GNAC championship with a 10-1-3 record and participated in the West Regional semifinal. SPU's lone setback marked the fewest losses in school history.
All-Americans Cody Lang (GK), the 2015 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Davis Karaica helped lead the nation's best defense that yielded just 0.45 goals per game. The season ended in the second round of the 2015 playoffs with a 1-1 draw against Cal State Dominguez Hills, which advanced by virtue of a 3-2 decision in the penalty kick tiebreaker.
Collings was honored as the 2014 conference Co-Coach of the Year and all 11 players from his starting lineup received all-league recognition, four more than any other team.
He directed the 2014 Falcons to a 16-2-2 record, including a school-record 13-game winning streak. They captured the school's first outright GNAC championship with a 12-1-1 mark. SPU previously shared the league title in 2006.
The Falcons were the No. 1 seed in the West Region and defeated Northwest Nazarene 2-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the regional championship game. They lost 1-0 in overtime against Cal State L.A.
In 2013, SPU registered a 12-4-3 record, including a 14-game unbeaten streak that was the longest such single-season stretch in school history before it was eclipsed by the 2014 team's 15-game streak.
A 10-1-3 GNAC record put SPU in second place. The Falcons lost 1-0 to Chico State in the first round of the 2013 playoffs.
Highlighting the 2013 campaign was a 2-1 victory over top-ranked and previously undefeated Simon Fraser on Oct. 3 in Seattle.
Collings led SPU to an 11-3-5 record in 2012, capped by the team's second straight playoff berth. The Falcons matched the best start in school history with six season-opening wins. The 1985 and 1991 SPU squads each started 6-0 before losing in their seventh outing. A 7-3-4 GNAC record put SPU in third place.
Despite a 1-1 tie against Cal State L.A. in an NCAA first-round postseason game, the Falcons season was ended by a 5-4 setback in the penalty kick tiebreaker.
SPU compiled a 14-4-2 record in 2011, capped by its first playoff appearance in five years. The Falcons earned the top seed in the West and notched a 2-1 overtime victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening round on a 92nd-minute golden goal by Christopher Morris. They fell 3-2 to 17th-ranked Cal State L.A. in the West Region championship game.
The Falcons finished second in the 2011 GNAC standings with a 7-2-1 record.
Collings was named the 2010 GNAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading SPU to a 10-6-2 overall record and a second-place league mark of 7-2-1.
He directed a remarkable turnaround during his second season, guiding the SPU men to an 11-5-3 record in 2009, their most single-season wins since the 2006 team finished with a 12-7 record.
The Falcons won five more games than in the previous season. The 2009 squad placed third in the conference standings with a 4-3-1 mark.
In his inaugural season of 2008, Collings directed the Falcons to a second-place finish in the GNAC with a 4-4 league ledger. SPU posted a 6-10-3 record in 2008 with a youthful roster that included 10 freshmen. He inherited just four starters and half (12) of the players on the 24-man roster had never before played a game in an SPU jersey.
He avoided a first-year Falcons curse as his predecessors were winless in their inaugural seasons. Collings replaced Cliff McCrath, who compiled a 512-190-87 mark in 38 seasons (1970-2007). SPU's first head coach, Arnie Aizstrauts, was 1-14-1 from 1968-69.
Collings, who took the reigns before the 2008 season, is just the third head coach in the 47-year history of the Seattle Pacific men’s soccer program.
A member and co-captain of Seattle Pacific's 1998 Final Four team, Collings was an assistant coach of the Falcons for the previous five seasons, helping lead SPU to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
“To be named the head coach of the Seattle Pacific University men’s soccer program is a special honor and I am thankful to have been given the opportunity,” said Collings.
Collings played four seasons for the Falcons (1995-98), with each team making the NCAA playoffs. Since then he has coached at various local high schools, including Seattle Academy from 1999-00. He also spent 11 years with Northwest Soccer Camp, serving as day camp and elite team training director for four years. Collings served as a head coach and Boys Director of Coaching for the Northwest Nationals Premier Soccer Club.
“The men’s soccer program has established itself as one of the premier programs in the country and having been both a student-athlete and coach here, I have a great understanding of the experience that our young men will have at SPU,” said Collings. “I’m committed to leading our players through their SPU journey so that they can develop the same passion I have for our University and men’s soccer program.”
Collings has been active in club soccer and currently serves as a boy's coach with Crossfire Premier.
He was twice selected to coach at the MLS Pre-Draft Combine, serving in that capacity in both 2011 and 2014.
Mark Collings Head Coaching Career
SEATTLE PACIFIC
Year Record GNAC Highlights
2008 6-10-3 4-4-0 (2nd place)
2009 11-5-3 4-3-1 (3rd place)
2010 10-6-2 7-2-1 (2nd place)
2011 14-4-2 7-2-1 (2nd place) NCAA Regional Final
2012 11-3-5 7-3-4 (3rd place) NCAA 1st round
2012 11-3-5 7-3-4 (3rd place) NCAA 1st round
2014 16-2-2 12-1-1 (1st place) NCAA Regional Final
2015 14-1-4 10-1-3 (1st place) NCAA Regional Semifinal
2016 6-6-5 4-4-4 (5th place) Posted 100th win
2017 11-5-1 7-4-1 (2nd place)
2018 8-11-0 4-8-0 (6th place)
2019 7-9-1 6-6-0 (3rd place)
2020* 3-2-1 n/a (no GNAC season, nor NCAA playoffs)
Totals 129-68-32 79-41-20
*
2020 schedule played in spring 2021 due to Covid pandemic