Baton Rouge, La. – Head coach Brian Lee and his staff were recognized as the Southeast Regional Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches organization. The award recognizes the best coaching staffs in each of the eight NCAA Division I regions around the country.
Each of the coaching staffs will be recognized at the United Soccer Coaches College Awards Reception on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2019 at the annual convention in Chicago. Each of the eight Regional Staff of the Year recipients will be placed on the United Soccer Coaches ballot for National Staff of the Year consideration.
Lee led LSU to the SEC Tournament title in early November as the Tigers reeled off four impressive results to claim the league title for the first time in program history. He led a young LSU squad that featured 25 underclassmen to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament; LSU finished the season with a 13-7-4 record. It’s the second time in his career that Lee has been a candidate for the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award; he was named the Southeast Region Coach of the Year in 1999 when he was at Furman University. The trip to the NCAA Tournament was the sixth in program history, all of which have come under the direction of Lee. LSU’s 2018 record of 13-7-4 marked the 11th time in 14 years under Lee in which the Tigers have finished with a win percentage of .500 or higher.
Lee was assisted by fifth-year assistant Carl Goody, second-year assistant Megan Kinneman and first-year volunteer assistant Travis Curson. Goody worked closely with LSU’s backline that allowed 0.98 goals per match in 2018, the fifth-best average in program history and lowest since 2010. Kinneman assisted redshirt senior goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier in goal and helped her achieve career bests in wins (13), shutouts (10), saves (109), save percentage (.813) and goals against average (0.98). Curson, who has been with the LSU soccer program for the last five years, made the most of his first year as a volunteer assistant. Curson put in copious amounts of hours in the film room helping develop scouting reports on opponents in addition to statistical analysis and helping out with team practices.
“This staff was truly a pleasure to work with this season,” Lee noted. “Megan (Kinneman), Carl (Goody) and Travis’ (Curson) work ethic all season long was second to none. They came to work with an unrivaled amount of passion to help this program improve on a daily basis.
“This award recognizes our coaches, but I also want to note that we couldn’t have achieved this amount of success without our support staff. Shalini Gogawale (director of ops), Tim Johnson (strength and conditioning), Hannah Faldetta (athletic trainer), Lauren Marucci (nutritionist), and Carole Walker (academics) did a wonderful job of providing an environment for our student-athletes that allowed each and every one of them to maximize their potential not only on the field but in the classroom as well.”
The Tigers had numerous players recognized on the national, regional and conference levels throughout the 2018 season. Caroline Brockmeier (first team), Lucy Parker (first team) and Alex Thomas (second team) were named to the United Soccer Coaches Division I All-Southeast Region Team earlier this week for their efforts on the pitch this season. All three were also named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week at one point this season. Brockmeier garnered the award twice in consecutive weeks near the end of the season. Her performance at the SEC Tournament (19 saves and three PK saves) earned her National Player of the Week honors from Top Drawer and one week later she was named to the national Top Drawer Team of the Week after she registered four penalty kick saves against Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to help LSU advance to the second round. Alex Thomas was named to the Top Drawer Team of the Week on Oct. 30 after her hat trick against Missouri in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Parker was the first LSU player to earn national team of the week honors this season on Sept. 11 after she played all 270 minutes in LSU’s three-win week over Lamar, Stetson and Samford. Parker (first team) and Thomas (second team) were joined by Adrienne Richardson (second team) and Abbey Newton (freshman team) with All-SEC accolades.