Alfred University Athletics

 

Hired at AU:	Fall 2017
Prior to AU:	Assistant Coach at Alfred University (2012-2017)
	Head Coach at Medaille College (2011)
	Assistant Coach at Medaille College (2007-2010)
Playing Career:	Medaille (2004-2007)
Alma Mater:	Medaille '07

Craig Yanni has been on the coaching staff of the women’s soccer team at Alfred University since 2012. He has served as an assistant in charge of coaching goalkeepers from 2012-2017 and transitioned into the Head Coach position in the fall of 2017.

Under Yanni's leadership, the Saxons have reached the Empire 8 postseason in each of the previous six seasons. 

During the 2020 season, Yanni led the Saxons to their first Empire 8 Tournament victory in program history. In the 2021 season, Coach Yanni and his Saxons broke the program record for most Empire 8 Conference wins in a season while at Houghton College in a 3-0 shutout on October 20. In the same season, Abigail Austin '22 was named as a Regional All-American for the first time in school history since 1996. Yanni additionally coached the likes of Nyah Solly '24, who led AU's defense to a .975 GAA across a four-year span. Solly set the program record with 73 games started for the Saxons, earning Regional All-American honors following the 2024 season. 

Yanni has found continued success from his work with goalkeepers over the years. From 2022-25, Yanni coached Kiani Barnard-Pratt '26, who currently owns records in the career GAA (0.95), single-season GAA (0.57 in 2024) and career shutouts (28). Barnard-Pratt was named as a two-time All-ECAC and All-Empire 8 talent, earning 2022 Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year honors. In 2013, Yanni coached Samijo Scheer '14 who went on to make 152 saves that year, ranking fifth all-time for saves in a season. With the graduation of Scheer, Yanni began developing a 2014 first-year, Sammy Jo Shanahan. Shanahan now stands as the program record holder in career saves (611) and ranks second in saves in a season (182); a feat she completed during her first-year campaign. Shanahan has been named to the All-Empire 8 Team twice.

Yanni has extensive coaching experience at the collegiate and high school levels. He was head coach at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY, for the 2011 season. As the Head Coach during that season he coached the Mavericks to an 8-11 record following a 3-15-1 season the year before. 

He was also an assistant at Medaille for four years (2007-10), serving as goalkeepers coach for three of those seasons (2007-10).

Yanni is a 2007 graduate of Medaille College, where he played on the men’s soccer team before earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. At Medaille, he earned several honors, including Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) First Team All-Conference; AMCC Academic All-Conference; and NSCAA/Adidas All-East regional academic honors. In 2009, he earned a master’s degree in business administration, also from Medaille. 
 

National Team Accolades:	2024 Team Ranked #7 in Nation for Save Percentage (0.899)
Conference Championship Appearances:	2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
ECAC Tournament Appearances:	2018, 2019, 2021

 

All-Region Honors:	6
Empire 8 All-Conference Honors:	29
College Sports Communicators Academic All-District:	15

 

Alfred University	Overall Record	Empire 8 Record	Postseason	Year-End Finish
2025	7-10-2 (.421)	3-6-2 (.364)	0-1	Empire 8 Championships Quarterfinalist
2024	7-3-6 (.625)	3-3-5 (.500)	0-1	Empire 8 Championship Quarterfinalist
2023	4-6-7 (.441)	2-1-5 (.562)	0-1-1	Empire 8 Championship Semifinalist
2022	6-7-5 (.472)	3-2-4 (.556)	0-1	Empire 8 Championship Semifinalist
2021	11-5-5 (.643)	5-1-2 (.750)	1-1-1	Empire 8 Championship Semifinalist  |  ECAC Quarterfinalist
2020	1-6 (.143)	0-5 (.000)	1-1	Empire 8 Championship Semifinalist
2019	8-7-5 (.525)	2-3-2 (.429)	0-1-1	ECAC Championship Quarterfinalist
2018	11-8 (.579)	3-5 (.375)	0-1	ECAC Championship Semifinalist
2017	7-9-3 (.447)	3-3-2 (.500)	0-1	Empire 8 Championship Semifinalist
Overall Totals	62-61-33 (.503)	24-29-22 (.467)	2-9-3 (.250)	--