Randy Waldrum is the only coach in the nation to receive regional coach-of-the-year honors in three of the past four seasons.

Randy Waldrum Named National Coach-Of-The-Year Finalist For Third Time In Past Four Years

Dec. 29, 2006

Notre Dame’s Randy Waldrum – whose .773 career win percentage ranks fourth among all active Division I women’s soccer coaches – has been named the Great Lakes Region coach of the year, becoming the only D-I women’s soccer coach to receive a regional coach-of-the-year honor in three of the past four years. Waldrum is one of six coaches named by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as a 2006 regional coach of the year and thus now is a finalist for the NSCAA’s coach-of-the-year award, to be presented Jan. 12 in Indianapolis at the annual NSCAA convention. Waldrum’s 25 total seasons as a college head soccer coach now include seven NSCAA regional coach-of-the-year honors, most recently with the 2003 and ’04 Irish women’s teams. He has directed Notre Dame to the most victories (72-5-2; .924) of any women’s soccer program over the span of the past three seasons (2004-06).

Waldrum and his staff coached a 2006 squad that ranks among the most dominant in the Notre Dame program’s storied history. The Irish held the nation’s number-one ranking for most of the season and did not lose until the national championship game, tying the team record for wins in a season (25-1-1) while becoming just the second women’s soccer program ever to reach 25 wins in multiple seasons (the 2004 NCAA championship team also was 25-1-1). Only five teams in the 25-year history of Division I women’s soccer have totaled more than 25 wins in a season.

The 2006 College Cup final weekend marked the fourth time in Waldrum’s eight-year tenure with the Irish that he has guided Notre Dame to a spot in the national semifinals (the 1999 team finished as the NCAA runner-up while the 2000 team lost in the semi’s). Only six coaches in D-I history have taken more of their teams to the College Cup’s “final-four” weekend than Waldrum, whose three appearances in the title game trail only UNC’s Anson Dorrance and UConn’s Len Tsantiris.

Notre Dame’s 2006 squad led the nation with a team-record 19 shutouts while the team’s 0.40 goals-against average ranked third nationally and was just shy of that Notre Dame record (0.36). The Irish ranked sixth nationally in scoring (3.15 goals per game) with an 85-11 scoring margin and had 28 more goals than their opponents’ combined shots on goal (57). Notre Dame allowed a per-game average of just 2.11 shots on goal – setting another Irish record – and finished the season with 423 more total shots than its opponents (583-160), including an even +200 in shots on goal (257-57).

Waldrum’s 2006 team extended the program’s home winning streak at Alumni Field to 32 games (third-longest in NCAA history), with the 41-game home unbeaten streak (40-0-1) also ranking third in the NCAA record book. Waldrum’s teams have yet to lose at home to a BIG EAST opponent, as part of the program’s 10-year, 72-game home unbeaten streak versus BIG EAST teams (71-0-1).

After adjusting to the challenge of playing the first four games of the season – versus Iowa State, Mississippi, USC and Santa Clara – without sophomore standouts Brittany Bock and Carrie Dew (who were competing at the Under-19 World Championship), Waldrum and his staff later made a key midseason lineup adjustment. Bock was shifted from the midfield to forward, flipping spots with junior Amanda Cinalli, and the change sparked the Irish offense as four players finished the season with double-digit goal totals.

The Irish faced another lineup challenge heading into the 2006 posteason, after Dew suffered a season-ending knee injury in the makeup game at Cincinnati. Freshman Haley Ford ultimately was inserted into Dew’s central defender spot and played with the poise of a veteran, alongside senior captain Kim Lorenzen. Notre Dame did not face a deficit for 16 straight games prior to the NCAA title game.

Notre Dame’s 2006 season included top wins over Santa Clara, Florida State, Penn State, Colorado, West Virginia and Villanova, plus other noteworthy victories over Villanova, SMU, Mississippi, USC, Rutgers (twice) and Marquette. Sophomore forward Kerri Hanks earned the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy (as national player of the year) while joining former UNC great Mia Hamm as the only D-I players ever to lead the nation in goals (22) and assists (22).

Senior midfielder Jen Buczkowski (third team) joined Hanks in receiving NSCAA All-America honors, with Dew joining those players as an NSCAA first team all-Great Lakes Region selection. Three other Irish players – Bock (12 G-7A), Cinalli (11G-4A) and senior midfielder Jill Krivacek – were named second team all-region. Freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer (18G-17A) ranked behind only Hanks among the national scoring leaders and was named by Soccer America as the national freshman of the year.

All eight of Waldrum’s teams at Notre Dame have advanced to the NCAAs, with seven BIG EAST regular-season titles and five BIG EAST tournament titles. The four-time BIG EAST coach of the year has coached 13 All-Americans (three of them national players of the year) and 10 Academic All-Americans. Waldrum’s seven career NSCAA region coach-of-the-year honors include three at Notre Dame (’03, ’04, ’06), plus one each with the Tulsa (’90) and Baylor (’98) women’s teams and two while coaching the Tulsa men’s program (’91, ’93).

The near-perfect 2006 season moved Waldrum from seventh to fourth place on the NCAA list for best career win percentage among active Division I women’s soccer coaches (including years coaching any four-year school). His 17 years as a D-I women’s soccer coach include a .773 win pct. (273-74-18) that narrowly trails Becky Burleigh (.775, at Barry and Florida) and Santa Clara’s Jerry Smith (.777) while Dorrance ranks first.

The Irish have totaled nearly a +150 win-to-loss margin in the Waldrum era (166-24-6; .862) while winning nearly 80% of their “big games” when facing an NSCAA top-25 or postseason opponent (66-17-3, .785). Four of the top-five team GAA in Notre Dame history have come during the Waldrum era (0.39 in ’00, 0,40 in ’06, 0.49 in ’03, 0.51 in ’04). Waldrum has compiled a 349-129-25 record (.719) in 25 total seasons as a college head coach.

(Note: a full recap of the 2006 postseason women’s soccer awards will be posted later this week on und.com, as will the roster for the upcoming training camp for the full U.S. National Team, with that likely to include current Notre Dame players.)