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Courtesy: Gardner-Webb Release: 08/18/2006 |
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Since 1999, Gardner-Webb University's women's soccer program has been a consistent winner. Throughout their transition from a Division II program to a Division I contender, the Lady Bulldogs have won matches at a pace never before seen in Boiling Springs, putting together winning seasons in six of the last nine years and winning at least eight games eight times. Much of the consistency can be attributed to head coach Kevin Mounce, who enters his 12th season at the helm of the Gardner-Webb program with the highest winning percentage of any women's soccer coach in school history. Mounce made an immediate impact upon taking over the program in 1999, leading the Bulldogs to their first winning season since 1992, and only their second since the program's inception in 1990. He proceeded to produce winning seasons in 2000 and 2001, as well, marking the first time in school history that GWU had put together three consecutive winning seasons. Mounce helped develop Gardner-Webb into a viable Division I program early in his tenure in Boiling Springs, as his teams posted an 11-9-1 record against Division I opponents during GWU's two-year provisional status. The 2001 season saw the Lady Bulldogs post an overall record of 15-6-1, setting a new school benchmark for wins and taking home the National Christian College Athletic Association championship in November. Following that tournament, Mounce was named NCCAA National Women's Soccer Coach of the Year. While 2002 was a rare down season for Mounce at 5-12-1, national women's soccer authority Soccer Buzz ranked Gardner-Webb second in the nation among first-year Division I programs at the conclusion of the season. Mounce quickly got the Bulldogs back on track in 2003, rebounding with an 8-9-1 record and guiding GWU to its first-ever spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship with a fifth-place finish in the league. For his efforts, Mounce was recognized by his conference coaching peers as the A-Sun Coach of the Year. In 2004, Mounce again captained a run for the Bulldogs, leading his squad to a fourth-place finish in league play and another spot in the Atlantic Sun Championship. This time, however, the Bulldogs didn't just make the tournament, the squad advanced to the semifinals with a win over Stetson in the opening round. Forward Leeanna Woodworth led the nation in scoring in 2004, earning A-Sun Player of the Year honors and shattering numerous school records in the process. Liz Kier and Maureen Foley also earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors in 2004 as the Lady Bulldogs had the type of season that successful programs are built upon. The 2005 season featured four all-conference selections and one academic All-American for Mounce. Woodworth made the first team for the second consecutive season, while Foley earned second-team accolades for the second straight year. Brittany Woods notched a spot on the second team after being named to the all-freshman team in 2004. Angie Harvey garnered a place on the all-freshman team. Woodworth also earned third-team Academic All-America honors. GWU posted a 5-3-2 record in A-Sun play, finishing third in the league. While starting several new faces and dealing with the departure of the school's all-time leading scorer in Woodworth, Mounce and his staff started out 5-0 on the 2006 season. During the regular season the team, behind strong defensive play, recorded seven shutouts, which is the second most in a single season in school history. The Lady Bulldogs qualified for their fourth consecutive conference tournament behind a 9-7-2 overall mark and a 3-4-2 league record, advancing to the semifinals before falling to No. 2 seed Stetson. In 2007, Mounce's team was ready for the challenge of being in the A-Sun for the program's final year. Despite facing arguably their toughest schedule in GWU's history and having to deal with a significant number of injuries, the Lady Bulldogs put themselves in position to make a run at the conference tournament by ending the season with a 1-0 victory over Campbell. However, GWU was forced out of the tournament on the last day of the season. The 2008 season saw the Lady Bulldogs make a transition, this time competing in its first year as members of the Big South Conference. With 14 newcomers on the roster, Coach Mounce had his hands full in trying to get the team to come together as one. The young Lady Bulldogs, which played 12 games on the road in 2008, posted a 4-13-2 record overall. Senior Angie Harvey earned First-Team All-Conference honors, while freshman Megan Trembley was named to the All-Freshmen team. In 2009, with the challenge of having a tough schedule and being a young team, with 19 underclassmen on the squad, the Lady Bulldogs went 12-9 overall with a 6-3 Big South record. Junior Sarah Keyser and sophomore Megan Reimer earned First-Team All-Conference honors, making it he seventh consecutive season in which Mounce and GWU have had at least one student-athlete receive postseason recognition. Under Mounce, Gardner-Webb has seen its scoring totals reach school-record levels. The Lady Bulldogs had four players score over 25 points in 1999 - including Kim O'Brien's then school-record total of 44 (18 goals). In 2000, three players scored 16 points or better, led by Michelle Haas' total of 31 points. In 2001, GWU had four players with six or more goals, including 12 by leading scorer Michelle Vander Vaart. The Bulldogs have had a pair of 20-point scorers in three of the last four seasons, with Woodworth emerging as one of Mounce's most successful recruits throughout his time at GWU. Woodworth was second on the team in scoring as a freshman in 2002 with 20 points, and led the team in scoring as a sophomore with 27, good enough for third in the A-Sun. She finished with 59 points in 2004 and was complimented well by Kier, who netted 35 points of her own. She capped her career with 29 points during the 2005 campaign. A quality tactician and motivator, Mounce inherited a team in 1999 that had finished the previous season below the .500 mark. He promptly directed a young team to a then-school-record 13 wins and a spot in the South Atlantic Conference tournament finals for the first time in school history. GWU topped national No. 1 Presbyterian in the SAC semifinals, then fell to Catawba in three overtimes in the championship game. With Gardner-Webb's jump to Division I in 2000, Mounce repeated his magic. The Bulldogs finished their first year at the highest level of college soccer with an 11-9-1 mark and finished third at the National Christian College Athletic Association's national tournament in Florida. The 2000 campaign marked the first time in Gardner-Webb women's soccer history that a coach had posted consecutive winning seasons. With his team's success in 2001, Mounce totaled 39 wins in only three seasons in Boiling Springs. Now with a 101-102-13 record in 11 years at GWU, Mounce is the school's most successful women's soccer coach ever. Mounce, who picked up his 100th career win in the 2003 regular season finale, now boasts a career ledger of 149-136-17 in two stops as a collegiate head coach - his current post at Gardner-Webb and as the head coach at Cumberland (Ky.) College in Williamsburg, Ky., from 1995-98. While at Cumberland, an NAIA school, Mounce directed the program to a single-season record for wins (19) and guided the 1997 team to the program's first-ever national ranking (15th). He also led the Indians to two consecutive regular-season conference titles in the Mid-South Conference ('97, '98) and was named Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998. His team was also the National Christian College tournament runner-up in 1997, and he was selected the NCCAA Region Coach of the Year in 1997. Mounce began his playing career at the University of Kentucky, and then finished his final three years at Sue Bennett College in London, Ky., where he was team captain, defensive MVP, and an all-conference selection. After finishing his playing days, Mounce stayed onboard as an assistant and helped guide the Dragons to a small college national title in 1994-95. Mounce is the founder of the Hat Trick Soccer camp, a popular summer camp based out of Boiling Springs. He, and his wife, Amanda, along with their daughter, Peyton (3), and their new baby boy, Riley Noel, who was born on August 5, 2009 reside in Shelby, N.C.
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September 2
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Courtesy: Gardner-Webb
