ATLANTA – He led St. Thomas to an 18-0 season and its fifth national championship, and as a result Tommies' head coach Brian Gross was named the MCLA Division II Coach of the Year, which was announced on Friday.

St. Thomas beat eight teams ranked in the Top 25 this spring on its way to the top seed in the MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour. The Tommies captured the title with a 10-7 victory over Grand Valley State in the finals.

“I'm very honored to receive this award, particularly in a year where I thought so many coaches did such a great job with their respective programs,” Gross said. “My assistant coaches, Jason King, Nik Colpitts and Tim Moulton deserve a lot of credit for all their hard work, as do the players for buying into the way we choose to run our program and the expectations and standards we hold each other to.

“I was just fortunate to have the best seat in the house for the fantastic season they put together. It's a privilege to coach at St. Thomas, where we have such great support for our program.”

Gross completes his second year at St. Thomas, where he has amassed a record of 29-3 overall and 6-1 at nationals.