Rivier has named Saint Joseph's (Me.) assistant Jonathan Cross as its new men's head soccer coach. (Photo courtesy of Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA — The revamping of the Rivier University athletic department’s coaching roster continues.

The Raiders named yet another new head coach on Thursday, announcing that St. Joseph’s of Maine assistant Jonathan Cross has been hired to take over the men’s soccer program.

Cross takes over for locally-entrenched Hayden Barbosa, who stepped down a month ago after seven seasons of trying different ways to rebuild the program.

In the last two years, the Raiders have had head coaching changes, for one reason or another, in women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, men’s basketball and hockey, baseball, and softball.

Many of the changes have taken place since Raider athletic director Jonathan Harper took over in August of 2022 for longtime AD Joanne Merrill, who still teaches at the university. And most have produced positive results as the school has placed a huge emphasis on recruiting — and winning. And, under Harper, making all their head coaches full time. The new coaches have all come from successful programs. Cross was with Saint Joe’s when it was the 17th ranked team in the country in 2017.

Cross becomes the eighth men’s soccer coach in Rivier history.

“Coach Cross has demonstrated his ability to recruit and retain high-level student athletes at one of the premier Division III New England soccer programs,” Harper said in a release. “He has a keen affinity for the student-athlete experience and is eager to get started in Nashua.

“I have no doubt the Coach Cross will build the Rivier men’s soccer program into a successful program in the conference.”

And that’s something Barbosa, try as he did as one of the more recognizable faces in the local soccer community, was simply unable to do over time. He went with a completely young team in 2021 with the hopes of steady improvement, and the Raiders went 3-10-5 this past fall after going 6-8-3 two years ago. As Harper said last month, “Hayden has given seven years of dedicated service to Rivier and he will be missed.”

Barbosa wasn’t the only one to try to turn the program around. Rivier hired away Bill Lawler from the now-closed Daniel Webster College after Lawler had guided the Eagles to success. But, he struggled for a few years, his best year being 8-9-2 in 2016 — most wins the program had in 15 years — after which he left to coach as an assistant at his alma mater, Babson. He’s now the head coach at Lesley University.

The Raiders are clearly hoping to get the same success they got with the women’s program, when they hired top Franklin Pierce assistant Daniel Milton and he put together a 10-7-3 season with team of transfers, eligible grad students, returnees and freshmen after the Raiders had gone 0-15-1 the year prior.

Cross, meanwhile, was an assistant at Saint Joe’s from 2017-2020 and again for the 2022 and ’23 seasons. He was the head recruiter, and also was, according to the release, “a liaison between the international student athlete population and school personnel.”

The two years he was away from the Monks, he was the Associate Head Coach for the University of Southern Maine (2020-22). He helped guide the team to its first winning season since 2008, and the team was 0-18 the previous year. Cross brought in 12 recruits. He played his college soccer at UMass Boston from 2008-2010.

“It is with honor that I accept the role of head coach for Rivier men’s soccer,” Cross said. “The opportunity is the result of years of dedication, and I want to express my sincere thanks to the University and everyone who has contributed to my journey in reaching this milestone.

“I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of building the program and fostering a new era of success, on and off the field.”

Cross is extremely community minded. He also studied at USM and became a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and has worked with those struggling with substance abuse at Westbrook High School in Westbrook, Me. In 2015 he began a venture called “Cross Wellness” which educates students on the concept of wellness. He also founded the Kennedy Park Football Club in 2020, a youth soccer/mentorship program. He also has a Masters in Education, earned at Saint Joseph’s in 2020.

And now he’s part of the Rivier community, which likely will stabilize in the coaching front for the foreseeable future. Overall, as many as eight new head coaches have now been brought in in the last two years.

(The Rivier Sports Information Department contributed to this report.)

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