Inaugural women’s soccer head coach Paul Scicluna is one of seven individuals to be inducted into the Eastern Michigan University athletics hall of fame as announced on Wednesday afternoon by the E-Club Alumni Chapter.
Scicluna coached the EMU women’s soccer team from its first year in 1994 until 1999 when he passed away tragically while recruiting for the team.
Having only been at the helm of the team for five years, Scicluna led the Eagles to an overall record of 38-32-2. When the Eagles joined the Mid-American Conference in 1997, Scicluna was only able to coach two seasons in the conference, posting a record of 11-5-2.
The program’s second and current head coach Scott Hall has done well to lead the team in Scicluna’s absence, and coaches the team in a way that Scicluna would be proud of.
Hall was one of Scicluna’s assistant coaches since the inception of the program.
“[Paul] Scicluna was my mentor and my friend,” Hall stated. “I am honored to have worked alongside of him for many years and feel extremely blessed that he is getting into the Hall of Fame.
“To see his family, friends and former players at EMU will be something that I look forward to as much as I look forward to the start of every season. I cannot wait [for him to be honored].”
The women’s soccer field in Ypsilanti has since been named in honor of Scicluna following his death. Paul Scicluna Field now hosts home games for the women’s program where the team has been successful, posting a record of 97-44-22 on the home pitch.
Joining Scicluna in this year’s hall of fame class is Tracy Deeter, who played under both Scicluna and Hall. Deeter graduated in 2001, and led the Eagles to a 1999 MAC Regular Season Championship. Deeter also helped the Eagles earn the MAC Tournament Title in the season following Scicluna’s death.
Deeter was included in the All MAC-Tournament team, and was honored with two First Team All-MAC awards. Deeter was also the first player in the program to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, and also MAC Player-of-the-Year in 2000.
Deeter helped teams coached by both Hall and Scicluna to a four-year combined record of 52-25-7 overall record with a conference record of 29-9-5/
The announcement of Scicluna and Deeter’s involvement in the 2015 EMU Hall of Fame comes three weeks before the EMU Women’s Soccer team kicks off its 21st season against Oakland University on August 16, 2015.
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