Richard Benge

Bio

Richard Benge enters his third season on the Connors State coaching staff after being named the assistant coach in July 2023. In his role, Benge will be responsible for the training and preparation of the goalkeepers as well as recruiting and assisting with day-to-day operations.

The goalkeepers have been a competitive group since the first season. During the 2023 season, freshman Kaylee Ballinger finished third in NJCAA Division 1 for saves with 175. On the men’s side, freshmen Jelan Ward and Alvaro Becerril combined to lead the team to four wins and a spot in the Region 2 Tournament. Ward earned Region 2 and National Goalkeeper of the Week honors late in the season after a shutout win at Rich Mountain.

2024 saw massive improvement on the defensive side of the ball for the women’s team, with goalkeepers Kaelynn Hill and Romina Camacho combining to help the team to four wins and conceding 32 fewer goals than in 2023. The men’s side saw Ward and Becerril continue to split time in goal as the men again earned a spot in the Region 2 Tournament in Enid, and both signed to play for NAIA schools after their time at Connors.

Benge joins the Cowboys and Cowgirls after spending the 2022-2023 season as the assistant women’s soccer coach at Millsaps College, an NCAA Division III institution in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2022, he helped lead the Majors to one of the best statistical seasons in over a decade. The team recorded the most shutouts (5) and allowed the fewest goals (24) since 2009. The starting goalkeeper earned Conference Player of the Week honors in the season's opening week and earned All-SAA Honorable Mention recognition.

Before joining the staff at Millsaps, he spent two seasons as the goalkeeping coach for the girls’ soccer program at Ravenna High School in Northeast Ohio. While at Ravenna, the team increased its win total from the previous year in each season. The 2021 campaign saw the most wins since 2017, the most shutouts (7) since 2009, and the team’s first OHSAA Tournament win since 2011. The Ravenna starting goalkeeper earned All-Conference and All-Greater Akron district recognition in each season and finished as the school’s single-game, single-season, and all-time saves leader and in the top 10 for career shutouts.

Benge’s coaching career began as the boys’ head coach at Columbiana High School in 2015, and includes a season as the head coach for Youngstown State University’s men’s club team, a season as a volunteer assistant coach at Hiram College, and work as an ODP staff coach for the Ohio Soccer Association.

Benge earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Youngstown State in 2018 and a master’s degree in sports administration from Kent State in 2021. He currently holds a National D License from the U.S. Soccer Federation and a Level 2 Goalkeeping Diploma from United Soccer Coaches.