Jay Benfield, a former standout goalkeeper for the Spartans, enters his third season as an assistant coach at his alma mater. 

Benfield has helped UNCG win back-to-back Southern Conference regular season championships, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010. He has helped guide goalkeeper Peyton Ford to one of the top keepers in the region as he earned Second Team All-SoCon honors last year. The Spartans only allowed one goal against last season in league play, out-scoring opponents 13-1. 

Prior to returning to Greensboro, Benfield served two seasons as an assistant coach at Lees-McRae. He helped the squad to the NCAA Division II tournament Round of 16 after winning the Conference Carolinas regular-season and tournament titles in 2008. In 2009, Lees-McRae was No. 1 in the nation during the regular season, winning the Conference Carolinas regular-season crown. The club finished 18-3-2 and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II national championship game, falling to Fort Lewis.   

A 2006 graduate of UNCG, Benfield also currently serves as a coach in the Twin City Youth Soccer Association and has previously served as an assistant coach at West Forsyth High School (2006-2008).   

Benfield was a goalkeeper for the Spartans from 2001-2005, helping the UNCG to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 in 2004 and 2005. He logged a school-record 5,324 minutes in goal for the Spartans. An All-SoCon selection as a senior, he was the driving force behind the Spartans’ rise to No. 1 in the nation in 2004 and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. In 2005, he lifted UNCG into the round of 16 with a pair of stops in penalty kicks at Virginia Tech.   

Benfield and his wife, Kimberly, reside in Winston-Salem.