(APRIL 29, 2025 | PEORIA, IL) – Peoria City completed its 2025 coaching staff with national championship experience and local flavor, according to an announcement of the additions to head coach Mike Paye’s staff by the club Tuesday morning.
Indian Hills Community College men’s soccer head coach Zac Newton joins the USL League Two squad as associate head coach, while Heartland Community College men’s and women’s assistant coach Ethan Fineman will assist both the Peoria City men’s and women’s teams as goalkeeper coach.
“Peoria City is dedicated to providing a professional experience for our players and staff, while putting on a top tier product for our fans and supporters,” says Peoria City President Jim DeRose. “Our 2025 team will benefit greatly through the leadership of coaches Paye, Newton and Fineman.”
In his first season at Indian Hills, Newton led the Warriors to the most successful season in program history as the program finished the year ranked second nationally by United Soccer Coaches after producing a 16-2-3 record and NJCAA D1 national tournament semifinals appearance.
Newton’s early success at Indian Hills is not surprising given his previous success launching both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Southeastern CC, where he led Blackhawks men’s team to the 2020-21 NJCAA D2 national championship in just the third season after starting the program in 2018. In his four years at Southeastern, Newton compiled a 76-69-5 combined men’s and women’s record, while coaching four NJCAA D2 All-Americans, two conference players of the year, 26 all-conference performers and 52 conference all-academic honorees.
Newton began his coaching career at Peninsula College, where he also began his collegiate playing career. He went on to play NCAA Division I soccer at Fairleigh Dickinson, before transferring to Niagara, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2016.
Following his playing career at Illinois Wesleyan, where he was a three-year letterman between the pipes (2021-23) and a two-time team captain (2022-23), Fineman joined the Heartland Community College men’s and women’s soccer coaching staff as goalkeeper coach in 2024. In his role, Fineman designed and implemented specialized goalkeeper training sessions, while working with both head coaches to integrate goalkeepers into team tactics. Fineman also works as a private goalkeepers coach.
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