Vince Martinez and the Cardinals have quickly earned the respect of the Western Athletic Conference after leading UIW to a third place finish in 2014. The fifth-year head coach knocking on the door of a regular season title in just the second year in the league. He has quickly a accumulated a 42-26-6 career record in San Antonio.
Martinez has taken a program that was at the top of NCAA Division II and has them quickly climbing the ranks in Division I. After a fantastic start to his UIW career at the Division II level, he led the Cardinals to a solid 6-8-1 record as an independent Division I program in 2013. They were on the road for all but two games and played matches in Missouri, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois and Nebraska. The team had some big wins and nearly upset #18 Dayton before losing 3-2 in overtime.
The 2014 season was a big one for the program with the Cardinals officially joining the WAC. The quickly made waves by winning their first four conference matches and had a chance to win the WAC regular season title heading into the final week of the season. Martinez was able to get UIW to play at a high level despite the loss of leading scorer, Noah Keats, just two games into the conference schedule. In conference matches, the team was second in goals scored, tied for first in assists and fourth in goals allowed.
Martinez did not get the head job under the most ideal situation. Former head coach John Smith suddenly departed the program in the summer of 2011 and Martinez, the program’s top assistant since 2008, was named as the interim head coach. The interim tag was removed after the 2011 season and he has flourished in his role as the head coach.
Two years, two NCAA Division II Playoff Appearances, a Lone Star Conference title, a South Central Region Title, two Top 10 national rankings and a 29-7-4 record. Not a bad way for Martinez to begin his career at Incarnate Word.
In his first year as head coach, Martinez led the Cardinals to the NCAA Division II regional playoffs after sitting out the national tournament the previous two years. Ending his first-ever heading coaching season, UIW won a first-round game over long-time nemesis Midwestern State before falling 1-0 in the second round to eventual national champion Fort Lewis. The end result was a 14-3-3 mark and a national ranking of #10.
The 2011 team finished 10th in the nation in goals against average (0.72) and 15th in shutout percentage (50.0%). Goalkeeper Chris Fidler was named the Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year and Lone Star Conference Academic Player of the Year and forward Callum Riley was the LSC Offensive Player of the Year and an NSCAA/Continental Tires Second Team All-American.
Martinez built upon a fabulous rookie season by following it up in 2012 with a Lone Star Conference championship and the program’s first NCAA Division II South Central Region championship since 2004. The season ended in the Elite Eight with a 1-0 loss to Simon Fraser. The team went 15-4-1 while playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation and finished with a #5 national ranking. They played seven ranked opponents, including three in the top three in the nation.
The Cardinals offense finished seventh in the nation with 2.75 goals per game while the defense remained solid with a 0.98 GAA and shutouts in 45 percent of games. Vinnie Bailey and James Nero each earned All-America honors. The team swept the LSC awards with Bailey named the Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Nero was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Robin Nicholls was the Newcomer of the Year.
Martinez joined the Cardinals in 2008 as the assistant to John Smith. The two had met while both played professional soccer. Martinez brought more than a decade’s worth of experience as a Division I player, a junior college coach and a professional soccer athlete when he arrived at UIW. During his tenure with UIW, the Cardinals are 70-31-11 with three NCAA Division II Tournament berths and two conference titles in six years.
The Fresno State (bachelor’s) and Cal State East Bay (master’s) alumnus recorded two Second Team All-Big West honors as well as being named First Team in 1990 during his playing days with Fresno State. He played professionally for the Monterrey Jaguars, the Nashville Metros, and the Hershey Wildcats.
Martinez began his coaching career at Las Positas Junior College as the women’s assistant coach from 1995-99. He became the Las Positas men’s co-head coach in 2000 and remained there until 2005.
Martinez is an outstanding recruitor getting players from all over the United States. The 2012 roster also featured players from Canada, England and Slovenia. The 2014 team figures to have at least a half dozen players from the United Kingdom.
Martinez holds an ‘A’ License as a coach from the USSF. He enjoys handball, tennis and training with MMA athletes when not playing soccer.
