Canton native Vaudreuil gets two-year extension with Roughnecks

Canton native David Vaudreuil led the Tulsa Roughnecks into the United Soccer League playoffs for the first time. (Photo courtesy Lori Scholl / Tulsa Roughnecks FC)

Canton native David Vaudreuil has signed a new, two-year extension to continue as the head coach of the Tulsa Roughnecks in the United Soccer League (USL).

In his first year with the Oklahoma-based Roughnecks, Vaudreuil led the team to a 14-14-4 record and its first-ever playoff appearance.

“We are thrilled to say our first, off-season announcement is a two-year extension for David,” said Brian Carroll, vice president of the Roughnecks. “This past season represented a very critical year for us, and coach Vaudreuil put together a very entertaining team that produced positive results on the field.  Our first-ever trip to the playoffs ended sooner than we wanted, but it was a team that was capable of making a deep run into the postseason.”

In his first season in Tulsa, Vaudreuil led the Roughnecks to a franchise-record 14 victories and 46 points.  The Roughnecks suffered a season-ending loss last weekend in the first-round of the USL playoffs when San Antonio secured a 2-1 win after converting a penalty kick in stoppage time.

The Roughnecks also claimed the Black Gold Derby Wrench this year by winning the season series with in-state rival Oklahoma City. In the 2016 season, Tulsa won just five matches (5-21-4), was last in the USL’s Western Conference and scored a league-low 25 goals.

“I am very excited to sign a new, two-year deal to remain in Tulsa,” Vaudreuil said. “Tulsa has been great for my family and me.  It was a good first year, and the support from our fans was tremendous.  I am excited about 2018, and we have already started to work to improve on our project from this past year.”

Vaudreuil, a former defender and midfielder who played 131 games in Major League Soccer and was on two squads that won MLS championships with D.C. United in the late 1990s, was instrumental in securing the Roughnecks affiliation with the MLS’ Chicago Fire for this past season.

A graduate of Princeton University, he has an expansive coaching background, including a stint as head coach with the Atlanta Silverbacks in the old USL First Division in 2004-05. He went 14-11-3 in his first season before being released in June 2005, finishing with a record of 17-16-6 with the club.

Vaudreuil has served as an assistant coach with the New England Revolution and as the General Manager and Head Coach of the AC Milan USA Academy.

He also previously spent time under Bruce Arena when he served as the head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy U-18 squad. In 2016, he was an assistant coach with Rayo OKC in the North American Soccer League.

At Canton, he earned All-American and All-State honors in his senior season (1983) under the late head coach Bryon McKusick. Vaudreuil scored 28 goals in 1983, a single-season school record at that time that was later broken by Karl Schilling (33) in 2003. Vaudreuil finished his scholastic career with 47 goals, fourth best in school history. He helped the Warriors win a Class S championship in 1981.

Vaudreuil was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007 and Canton High’s Wall of Fame in 2006.