GALESBURG — Kevwe Akpore, who turned the Carl Sandburg College men’s soccer team into one of the premier programs in the country, has announced his resignation as head coach.
Akpore, a staple of the Galesburg soccer community for decades, joined the Chargers as an assistant in 2016 and was named interim head coach during the 2017 season. He became permanent head coach shortly after the conclusion of that campaign. In 4½ years as head coach, Akpore compiled a record of 34-32-5, with much of that success coming in the last two seasons. His 34 wins are the most by any Chargers soccer coach.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here,” Akpore said. “I will miss coaching these players, but I will miss even more the relationships and the moments that come with helping them grow as athletes, as students and as young men.”
This past season, Sandburg won a school-record 16 games (going 16-5 overall), ended the season ranked No. 12 in the country, appeared in the national rankings each week, was ranked as high as No. 7 on a pair of occasions, won the first region title in program history, won the first-ever Arrowhead Conference men’s soccer championship and made its first appearance at the NJCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championship. The Chargers won their opening match of the tournament before losing an elimination game in pool play 1-0 to eventual runner-up CCBC Essex.
Under Akpore during the abbreviated 2021 spring campaign, the Chargers posted the first unbeaten regular season in program history at 4-0-1, were nationally ranked for the first time ever, advanced to the Region IV semifinals for only the second time in program history and finished the season ranked No. 20 in the country with a 5-1-1 record.
“Coach Akpore’s passion for and dedication to Sandburg soccer is unmatched,” Sandburg athletic director Jerry Thor said. “In only a few years, he helped our soccer program reach heights that it had never seen before. He’ll leave an indelible mark here as a teacher of the sport, a leader of his team and as a mentor for the players that he has brought to Sandburg, including many international students who leaned on him as they adjusted to living and going to school in the United States.”