Fresh off a second straight 4-13-1 campaign, the Rutgers men's soccer program is in the market for new leadership.

Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs on Tuesday announced the dismissal of Dan Donigan, a Mercer County native who just completed his ninth season at the helm of the Scarlet Knights men's soccer team.

"After an evaluation of the program's performance, a change of leadership is appropriate at this time," Hobbs said in a statement. "We are very thankful for Dan's dedicated service to Rutgers and its student-athletes. He contributed to our rich history of soccer success.''

Hobbs said a national coaching search is underway.

"Moving forward,'' Hobbs said, "we are committed to securing a head coach who will help our student-athletes compete and succeed at a Big Ten and national level.''

Donigan, whose tenure included a 55-95-16 record and two NCAA berths, was the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2015, when the Scarlet Knights last appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers finished 12-7-2 and advanced to the NCAA Round of 32 in '15, but compiled a 9-40-4 record over the past three seasons.

The Scarlet Knights this season finished 4-13-1 overall, 2-6 in Big Ten play and lost 6-3 on Sunday at Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Junior forward Jordan Hall (first-team All-Big Ten), defender Thomas DeVizio (All-Freshman team) and senior midfielder Thomas Dovell (Sportsmanship Award) were all honored by the conference last week.

Donigan wasn't immediately available Tuesday when contacted by NJ Advance Media.

Donigan was given a three-year extension as Rutgers coach on March 3, 2017. His contract terminates Dec. 13, 2019, which means the university will be on the hook for the remainder of a deal that includes an annual base salary of $143,500.

Since taking over as Rutgers AD in late November 2015, Hobbs has dismissed men's basketball coach Eddie Jordan, women's swimming coach Petra Martin, gymnastics coach Lou Levine and softball coach Jay Nelson. He has hired football coach Chris Ash, men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell, women's rowing coach Justin Price, gymnastics coach Umme Salim-Beasley, softball coach Kristen Butler and promoted women's tennis coach Hilary Ritchie and women's swimming co-head coaches Fred Woodruff and Jon Maccoll.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.