BATON ROUGE — Danielle Fotopoulos, wife of current head LSU women’s soccer coach George Fotopoulos, was named co-head coach of the Tigers, the program announced on Wednesday.
“I really think that this is the greatest thing to ever happen in the history of the LSU women’s soccer program,” said fifth-year coach George Fotopoulos. “Having someone of Danielle’s caliber as a player and as a coach is a dream come true for our program.”
Danielle Fotopoulos served as a volunteer assistant on the Tigers’ staff last season. The Altamonte Springs, Fla., native, led the Florida Gators to the 1998 NCAA National Championship, scoring the winning goal on a free kick in overtime against North Carolina in Greensboro, N.C. She started her collegiate career at SMU from 1994- 95 before transferring to Florida, playing from 1996-98. She finished her career as the NCAA’s all-time leader in goals scored (118) and in points with 284. She was named the 1998 Collegiate Player of the Year.
She was a founding player in the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001 and played for three seasons. Fotopoulos ranks second all-time in the WUSA in points, scoring 20 goals and tallying 16 assists. She led her team, the Carolina Courage, to the Founders Cup in 2002 as she led the WUSA in points during the postseason.
“I am very excited to now officially be on staff at LSU,” said Fotopoulos. “Obviously the school is awesome, with the football team winning a national championship, and having all the other sports achieving great things. We just want to follow that with the soccer program.
“One of my goals is to make each player better, not only on the field but off the field too,” she continued.” We want to get involved with the community and make our team something that people want to come and watch.”
Fotopoulos was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal as well as the 1999 World Cup Champion squad.