With back-to-back national championships to his credit, 19th-year head coach Bob Barnes has a unique place among coaches in Ohio Wesleyan University history.
Barnes guided the Battling Bishops to the NCAA Division III championship in 2001 and 2002, and saw his team extend its winning streak to a Division III-record 60 straight games.
Last year, the Bishops compiled a 1-14-2 record.
The 2011 Bishops shared the NCAC championship, won the NCAC tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament. Ohio Wesleyan finished with a record of 12-4-5. Barnes was named NCAC Coach of the Year for the third time. Barnes also posted his 200th career victory during the 2011 season.
In 2005, Ohio Wesleyan became the first team in North Coast Athletic Conference history to win twice on the road in the NCAC tournament en route to taking the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
The 2004 Bishops finished with a 16-3-2 record, won the NCAC championship and tournament, and advanced to the sectional semifinals (final 16) of the NCAA Division III tournament.
In 2002, the Bishops won 24 straight games on the way to winning the national championship. Ohio Wesleyan won its fourth straight NCAC championship and its third straight NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional crown along the way. The Bishops allowed only 4 goals all season and were unscored upon during the 5-game run through the NCAA Division III playoffs. Barnes was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Also included among the Bishops' 24 wins in 2002 was a 9-0 verdict over Hiram that gave Barnes his 100th career victory. His 100th win came in his 118th game, placing him among the fastest ever to reach that mark.
In 2001, Ohio Wesleyan won its final 21 games, also taking its third straight North Coast Athletic Conference championship and its second straight NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional crown, en route to its first national championship in women's soccer. Barnes was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Ohio Wesleyan finished the 2000 season with a 16-4-1 record. The Bishops won the inaugural NCAC tournament and won the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional crown for the first time. Ohio Wesleyan was ranked No. 6 in the final NSCAA Division III poll. In 1999, the Bishops finished with a 19-1 record and won the NCAC championship. Ohio Wesleyan posted a string of 9 straight shutouts.
The 1998 Bishops finished with a 19-3 record, setting school and conference records for victories. After finishing the regular season with 8 straight wins, the Bishops returned to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time since 1992, only to face a stretch of 3 games in 4 days. Ohio Wesleyan outlasted Olivet in double overtime and nipped Kalamazoo on a goal in the final 2 minutes of regulation time before falling to defending regional champion Washington in double overtime in the regional title game. In 1997, his first season as a collegiate head coach, Barnes guided the Bishops to a 10-8 record.
Barnes rejoined the Ohio Wesleyan staff in 1996 as a volunteer assistant coach and helped engineer the Bishops' season-ending 5-game winning streak that clinched third place in the final NCAC standings.
Before returning to Ohio Wesleyan, Barnes was head girls soccer coach at Delaware Hayes High School for 4 seasons, compiling a 14-50-5 record in the rugged Ohio Capital Conference. During that time, he also served as coaching director of the Ohio Cosmos Soccer Club.
Barnes began his coaching career as an assistant with the Ohio Wesleyan men's soccer team in 1992, helping guide the Bishops to the NCAA Division III national championship game.
A native of Gahanna, Ohio, Barnes is a 1989 Ohio Wesleyan graduate. A 3-year letterman for the Bishop men's soccer team, he was an All-North Coast Athletic Conference pick as a junior after ranking third in the league in scoring with 20 goals, and claimed All-Mideast, All-Ohio and All-NCAC honors as a senior after again ranking third in the league in scoring. He finished his career ranked third on the all-time Bishop list for goals (43) and fourth in total points (97).
