Oct. 14, 2010

Bryan Scales, in the midst of his second season as the head coach of the UMass Lowell men’s soccer team, resigned Thursday to pursue other opportunities in soccer, announced Director of Athletics Dana Skinner.

Christian Figueroa, in his third year as an assistant coach, will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. UMass Lowell plays its last four matches of the season beginning Saturday at home against Southern Connecticut (1:00).

Scales, who is also the head coach of the Revolution Academy U-16 team and an assistant with the U.S. U-15 national team, came to Lowell in April of 2009 following 11 years at Cornell and presided over last two seasons.

“It was a real privilege to be the head coach at UMass Lowell,” Scales said. “It is a special place. I want to thank Dana for the opportunity to have been a part the UMass Lowell athletic community and I especially want to thank the players. I am looking forward to pursuing a new opportunity.”

A search will begin for a head coach immediately following the season.

Figueroa was a four-time Northeast-10 All-Conference player at UMass Lowell from 2003-06 and led the River Hawks to a four-year record of 47-17-14, which included NCAA Tournament bids in 2003 and 2004.

He joined the coaching staff following graduation in 2007 under then-Head Coach Ted Priestly, and helped the River Hawks to a share of the 2008 NE-10 regular season title and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008.

Figueroa is a native of North Andover, Mass.