By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass.  -- The two friends were soccer teammates for three seasons and were both members of the Stonehill College class of 1996.

Now, Jim Reddish and Brendan Adams have something else in common.

Reddish, who recently completed his seventh season as the head men’s soccer coach at Stonehill, and Adams, who has been the head men’s soccer coach at Bridgewater State University for 13 years, each earned coaching honors after successful season this fall.

Reddish, who guided the Skyhawks to their highest win total since 1993, was named the Northeast-10 Conference coach of the year.

Adams, whose Bears won a third Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship, earned his third conference coach of the year award.

“What are the odds?’’ said Adams. “Two kids from the class of ’96 ending up getting coach of the year? You’re not going to see that all that often, especially with the schools this close. It’s pretty neat.

“I guess we didn’t have the talent back in college, we had the brains when we played.’’

Reddish was a forward and midfielder and Adams a midfielder when they played for the late Ernie Branco during the 1990s.

With Reddish living in Needham and Adams hailing from Sherborn, they would meet in the summer at Babson College to train and prepare for the next season.

The two developed a friendship that stands today, and Adams was in Reddish’s wedding party.

Reddish and Adams get their teams together every preseason and during the spring for a pair of scrimmages, and they keep close tabs on each other’s program.

“Brendan’s done a great job,’’ said Reddish. “He’s got them contending every year in that conference. He puts together a team that competes for the MASCAC championship every year.’’

Said Adams: “For them to finish fourth and get a home game in a conference like that, it’s just amazing that he was able to pull that off. It’s a great feat.’’

Stonehill, which was 5-10-1 in 2013, was picked to finish 11th this season. But the Skyhawks went 11-6-1, increased their goal total from 13 to 35, set a program record with nine conference wins to finish fourth and hosted a conference tournament game for the first time since 1994.

Reddish joins Branco (in 1985) as the only men’s soccer coach of the year from Stonehill.

“It was a fun ride,’’ said Reddish, whose team had several incredible comeback wins and beat Franklin Pierce for the first time in 17 tries. “It was enjoyable. It’s a credit to the guys who made the plays. They got what they deserved.

 “It was just a special year. This is my seventh season as head coach and I did six as an assistant with Jose (Gomes). In the last 13 years, I’ve just seen the program grow. When the game was on the line, the players stepped up and made the plays. It’s a coach’s dream to sit there and see that. I put my trust in them to make plays and they did.’’

Adams also won the MASCAC coach of the year award in 2003 and 2009. The Bears have gone 55-23-13 in conference games under Adams, who is the program’s all-time winningest coach (122-97-23).

This time, Adams has won the award at the same time his friend and former teammate did.

“Once we were done playing, we’d sit around and talk about what Stonehill needed to do, things like that,’’ said Adams. “You could tell back then that he really enjoyed the behind the scenes stuff of becoming a coach.’’

Said Reddish: “Coaching has definitely always been in Brendan’s blood. He was a hard worker on the field and he understood the game. It wasn’t just soccer, it was basketball, whatever the game was at the (recreation) center, Brendan was playing.’’