Western Connecticut State University legendary head women's and men's soccer coach Joe Mingachos has been selected for induction into The Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame. He formally received the recognition at a ceremony held February 19, 2022.
Mingachos enjoyed 19 seasons at the helm of one of the most successful women's soccer programs in the region and the nation. In 2016, he took the reins of the WestConn men's soccer program.
He made an immediate impact to the men's program. In his six years and five season at the helm of the men's team, WestConn has gone 67-33-8 overall and went to back-to-back NCAA Division III Tournaments after capturing the LEC title in 2017 and 2018. Mingachos has an overall collegiate coaching record of 365-123-36.
With the women, he was 298-90-28 and held an 105-19-9 record in the league and has won eight LEC Championships. Mingachos continued a perfect run of 19 straight years of having a .500 or better campaign, going 16-6-1 and winning the LEC title and a trip to the program's 11th NCAA Division III Championships in his final season.
Prior to being named Head Women's Coach, Mingachos had been the Head Assistant Men's Soccer Coach under Wayne Mones for six seasons from 1991 to 1996. He also coached the Danbury Girl's Premier U-16 Team in 1995 and 1996. Mingachos has been the Director of the Mentoring Program for the Danbury Police Athletic League and the Southwest District Premier Training Director in 1996 and 1997.
Mingachos was an All-American sweeper for WestConn during his senior soccer campaign in 1989. That season, WestConn finished with a 16-4-2 record and made their first of five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. During his collegiate career, he was named to the All New England, All New England Intercollegiate Soccer League, and All Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All Star teams.
The CSHOF was established in 1998 by a sub-committee of the Connecticut State Soccer Association (CSSA) and was the brainchild of then Secretary Joe LaRosa.
The inaugural induction was held in January, 1999 at the Marriott in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and welcomed eleven Charter Members. Every year since that initial ceremony, we have identified and recognized a new class into our Hall. We continue to strive to find a cross section of excellent candidates whose contributions are worthy of selection and induction into the Hall of Fame.
The Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame now showcases an incredible group of soccer players, coaches, administrators, referees, organizers, teams and organizations which have made significant contributions to the game of soccer....and we continue to grow each year. Visitors to our website see that our members have influenced the game at all levels - worldwide, nationally, statewide, and locally - and identify with the rich soccer history that has been alive for so long in Connecticut.
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