Matthew "Matt" Nelson (born November 12, 1977 in Tampa, Florida) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

goalkeeper who was the head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers men's soccer team. He played professionally in the USL First Division and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Player

Nelson attended Lynn University, playing on the men's soccer team from 1996 to 1999. He compiled thirty-one shutouts and forty-nine wins in fifty-nine games. He was a 1999 NSCAA Division II Scholar All American. Nelson graduated with a bachelor's degree in international business. In 2000, Nelson began his post-collegiate career with the Cape Cod Crusaders of the

USISL D3-Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

. That season, he earned D2-Pro League Goalkeeper of the Year honors after posting a 0.73 goals against average. After the Crusaders were eliminated from the playoffs, Nelson joined the Boston Bulldogs of the USL A-League for three games, allowing only one goal. The Columbus Crew then called him up for the last two games of the

season. Nelson then moved to Ireland and joined

Kilkenny City A.F.C. Kilkenny City Association Football Club was an Irish football club. The club played in the First Division of the League of Ireland until 18 January 2008 when they announced that they resigned their position in the league citing "lack of finance ...

He played sixteen league games before gaining his release outside of the transfer window in April 2001. With that in hand, Nelson returned to the United States and joined the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

but was released a month later. In 2002, he signed with the

South Jersey Barons South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

of the USL D3-Pro League. When the D3-Pro League season ended the last week of July 2002, the

Hampton Roads Mariners Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

quickly signed Nelson for the rest of the A-League season. In 2003, the Mariners became known as the Virginia Beach Mariners. Nelson stayed with the team through the 2006 season. The Mariners folded at the end of the 2006 season and Nelson signed with the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Second Division in 2007. That season, he recorded a league-leading ten shutouts and a 10–4–4 record. He also had the league’s second best goals-against-average at 0.611 and was selected to the USL-2 All-League Second Team while backstopping the Islanders to the USL Second Division championship. On July 27, 2007 the Vancouver Whitecaps acquired Nelson on loan for the last three games of the USL First Division season. The Whitecaps wanted Nelson to play for them in 2008, but he declined. Nelson signed with Crystal Palace Baltimore in the USL Second Division on April 7, 2008. In the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Nelson saved three penalties in a penalty shoot out against his former team, the Islanders, to send Palace through to the next round against MLS side New York Red Bulls. Against the Red Bulls Nelson kept a clean sheet and made seven saves which helped send Palace through to the quarter finals of the competition against the New England Revolution. Palace released Nelson from his contract on July 18, 2008 and he was reacquired by the Harrisburg City Islanders for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Coach

In 2003,

Virginia Wesleyan College Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) is a private university in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The university is nonsectarian but historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church. It enrolls 1,607 students annually in undergraduate and graduate ...

hired Nelson as a goalkeeper coach. In 2005, he moved to The College of William & Mary as an assistant with the women's soccer team. In 2008,

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

hired Nelson as its assistant coach to head coach

Shaun Pendleton Shaun Pendleton, born in Sheffield, England, was an English-American soccer defender who played four seasons in the American Indoor Soccer Association before becoming a college soccer coach. His teams won the 1991 NAIA and 2003 NCAA Division ...

. Pendleton had coached Nelson at Lynn University. On September 7, 2011, Nelson found Pendleton dead at home. The University elevated Nelson to interim head coach for the remainder of the season.Appalachian men's soccer coach found dead
Nelson was named the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year and the University named him permanent head coach on December 5, 2011.

Notes

External links

Appalachian State coaching bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Matthew 1977 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Appalachian State Mountaineers men's soccer coaches Cape Cod Crusaders players Columbus Crew players Crystal Palace Baltimore players Boston Bulldogs (soccer) players Penn FC players Ocean City Nor'easters players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players USL First Division players USL Second Division players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Virginia Beach Mariners players Soccer players from Florida Lynn Fighting Knights men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers William & Mary Tribe men's soccer coaches Virginia Wesleyan Marlins men's soccer coaches Kilkenny City A.F.C. players League of Ireland players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland