LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's soccer head coach
Isabelle Harvey has been named the NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Harvey guided the Golden Eagles to the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season and tournament championships, to program's highest-ever national ranking of No. 5 and into the second round of the NCAA playoffs in one of the best seasons in the program's history.
Harvey becomes the first women's soccer coach in Cal State L.A. history to earn regional Coach of the Year honors.
Cal State L.A. went 16-2-3 in 2014 and captured the CCAA regular-season title with a 9-0-2 record. The Golden Eagles never trailed in a CCAA match during the season. Cal State L.A. then beat Sonoma State, 3-0, and Chico State, 3-1, to win the conference tournament as well.
The Golden Eagles then hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the program's history.
Harvey was also named the CCAA Coach of the Year for the first time. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the conference in a preseason poll of CCAA coaches, but surpassed those expectations with a dominating run through conference play.
Since her return to Cal State L.A. – Harvey began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the men's and women's program in 2001, served as the interim head coach for both teams in 2002 and was an assistant coach again for both teams in 2003 and 04 – she has led the Golden Eagles to a 26-8-6 overall record and a 17-5-5 mark in conference play in two seasons.
The seven other regional coaches of the year for 2014 are Rob Berkowitz of East Stroudsburg University (Atlantic), Brian Bahl of Minnesota State University-Mankato (Central), Kevin Meek of Assumption College (East), Troy Fabiano of University of Wisconsin-Parkside (Midwest), Denise Brolly of Barry University (South), Kevin Fickes of Colorado School of Mines (South Central) and Jay Entlich of Columbus State University (Southeast). The national Coach of the Year will be selected from those eight later this week.
The coaching awards cap off an amazing 2014 for Harvey, who was announced as part of USC's next Hall of Fame class that was introduced during a USC football game on Sept. 27 and will be inducted on May 16, 2015. Harvey was USC's first-ever women's soccer first-team All-American.
