Baker University athletic director Dan Harris announced Monday the hiring of Alan Koch as the Wildcats’ new men’s soccer coach.

Koch was an assistant at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas, for the past three seasons. The 2005 squad, ranked 22nd nationally, finished 13-3-2 and tied for a share of the Southwestern Soccer Conference championship.

“The soccer team has a winning tradition, and I aim to continue that,” Koch said of Baker’s program. “With a great school, a fantastic support structure and a solid team in place, the goal is now to get better and better with each game.”

Koch, a native of South Africa, was an NAIA All-American soccer player in 1998 for Simon Fraser in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Koch replaces Ron Pulvers, now the soccer coach at California State University in San Marcos, Calif.