After two years, he was named as the head coach for Neumann and looked to help the 10-year-old program continue to improve.
The Knights continued their magical run with a 2–0 shutout in the national semifinal and then pulled off probably the most surprising championship victory when they downed Gustavus Adolphus in the final.
Unfortunately, because the ECAC West had lost its automatic qualifier due to a lack of membership programs, he wasn't able to get Neumann back to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2015, Dawes left Neumann to become the first head coach for the program at Stevenson, which would begin play the following year.
Despite being a brand new team, the Mustangs played well out of the gate, posting a winning record in just their second year and finishing near the top of the conference more often than not.