Coach Potteiger enters his ninth year as head coach of Lee men’s soccer. Before the 2024 season Potteiger’s Flames had never encountered a losing campaign. His program remains highly respected in the powerful GSC and NCAA Division II after the 4-7-6 overall mark and 3-4-4 in the GSC. The Flames were beaten by top-seeded West Florida 1-0 in the GSC Tournament. Potteiger’s eight-year Lee record stands at 62-41-26.
Said Potteiger, "One of the great aspects of college coaching is that every team is quite unique and never the same as the previous season. The challenge is always building on the foundation of the program that has been laid by previous teams but recognizing it is a new season and a unique group and embracing that new challenge.”
Marc Ehmann, a graduate student from Manheim, Germany, and junior Marcos Gracia from Leon, Spain were named to the All-Gulf South Conference teams. Ehmann was on the First Team All-GSC and Gracia Second Team All-GSC. For Ehmann this is the second time he has earned this honor as he was a second team member in 2023. For Garcia, it is his first time receiving the accolade.
Ehman also earned a position on the 2024 Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) Men's Soccer All-South Region team. For Ehmann it was the first time for the Flame to be named to the All-Region team. He was the captain and the leader of the defense for his team this year. He helped lead the defense to giving up just a goal a game and only allowed the third fewest goals in the GSC.
Garcia was very strong in the midfield this season. He leads the team in assists with three and has two goals. He was second on the team with 29 shots and led Lee with on-goal shots with 14.
Garcia and Shay Gillen were the two Flames that received recognition by the 2024-25 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Soccer Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators. It recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Garcia is a junior and has a 3.95 GPA in finance. Gillen is also a junior and has a 3.78 GPA in finance as well.
2023 was an outstanding year for Eamon McLaughlin. The senior posted a 3.33 GPA in business administration. He was a DII CCA All-South Region member and First Team All-GSC. McLaughlin led the attack for the Flames. His seven goals lead the team and tied for fourth best in the GSC.
In 2022 the team finished second in the GSC regular season at 9-4-2 (back-to-back seven-win GSC seasons) but then lost a heartbreaker 2-1 in the GSC quarterfinals, giving up a 1-0 lead in the final four minutes to eventual GSC tournament winner Christian Brothers.
After the 2020 season was also completely wiped out due to the COVID-19, the 2021 Flames came burning back with a 13-5-1 record and recorded several team high-water marks. It became the first team to post 13 wins since Lee moved forward to DII, also added the most conference wins (7), most goals scored - with a full DII schedule (36), fewest goals conceded (10), highest goal differential (26). The season ended with the heartbreaking loss to rival West Florida, 2-1 in the GSC Tournament finals.
The 2019 team placed fourth in the Gulf South Conference regular-season standings, then the Flames defeated top-seeded Mississippi College in the semi-final round of the GSC Tournament and whipped rival West Florida 1-0 to earn its first-ever GSC Tournament Championship. Potteiger’s club made its first trip to the NCAA DII National Tournament and fell to Queens University (Charlotte, N.C.) in the opening round after two overtimes and a 5-4 decision in penalty kicks.
Potteiger was a two-time All-American at Penn State University and former first assistant for the United States Naval Academy (2009-13). During his tenure at Penn State, Potteiger was selected as All-Big 10 four times and captained the soccer team for three seasons, graduating with a 3.5 GPA.
He played professionally in the USL for several years and served as the top assistant under legendary coach Dave Brandt at the Naval Academy. Navy was a bottom 10 program in 2008 and rose to a Top 25 program by 2013 under Brandt’s leadership.
Coach Potteiger began his head coaching career at NCAA Division III Gordon College (Wenham, Massachusetts) and for four years his teams posted an impressive 61-18-3 record. He took over a Gordon team that won only six games prior to his arrival in 2012 to 19 wins in 2013 and was named conference coach of the year. He directed the Gordon squad to its first two NCAA tournament wins.
Derek, and his wife Jennifer have four daughters, Alexis, Rylee, Abigail, Reese and a son, Myan.
