After leading the Golden Eagles to another outstanding season in 2017, Isabelle Harvey returns for her sixth season as the head coach of Cal State LA’s women’s soccer program.
She guided the Golden Eagles to a second-place finish in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, the team’s best regular-season showing since the championship run in 2014. Cal State LA, with one of the youngest rosters in the conference, recorded a 9-5-3 overall record and a 7-3-2 mark in the CCAA. The Golden Eagles were ranked sixth in the West Region in the final regular-season NCAA poll.
Harvey led her team to the conference tournament for a fifth straight season and into the semi-finals for a third straight time. Paulina Chaidez became the first player in program history to win a pair of major conference awards as she picked up the CCAA’s Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in voting by the conference coaches and went on to become the first freshman to earn All-America honors.
In her first five years back at Cal State LA, Harvey has led the Golden Eagles to a 49-29-17 overall record and a 36-17-10 conference mark. Cal State LA has collected 31 All-CCAA, 11 All-West Region and three All-America awards in that span. That includes two CCAA Player of the Year awards, one Newcomer of the Year award and one Freshman of the Year award. Cal State LA also earned the first CoSIDA Academic All-America award in the program’s history in 2014 under Harvey’s direction.
She guided the Golden Eagles through an up-and-down season in 2016. Cal State LA had an outstanding stretch early in the season when they strung together six straight shutouts, all at home, while winning their first five conference games. The Golden Eagles then hit a rough patch before turning things back around in the conference tournament.
Harvey expertly guided the Golden Eagles to their second conference championship game appearance in three years after a first-round tournament win at Cal State San Bernardino and an exciting semifinal against No. 2 seed Sonoma State that was decided on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. Cal State LA was the surprise of the tourney, entering the conference championships as the No. 6 seed.
She directed a squad that had several freshmen playing key roles and was playing as well as anyone in the conference down the stretch of the 2015 season. After a slow start, Cal State LA went 7-1-2 over its final 10 regular-season games to jump to third place in the CCAA. The big run enabled the Golden Eagles to host a first-round tournament game. Cal State LA rallied impressively and finished the season with a 7-7-4 overall record and a 7-3-2 mark in conference play. The Golden Eagles featured a stout defense that surrendered only 14 goals in 18 games and posted seven shutouts.
It was an impressive follow-up to a historic 2014 season when Harvey was named the NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year and claimed CCAA Coach of the Year honors as well after leading the Golden Eagles to one of the best seasons in the program’s history. Cal State LA was 16-2-3 overall in 2014 and earned a national ranking of No. 5 at the end of the regular season.
Harvey became the first coach in the program’s history to earn regional Coach of the Year honors.
The Golden Eagles, who were picked to finish fourth in the CCAA in a preseason poll of conference coaches, had a dominant conference run, going 9-0-2 while winning the regular-season title and then posting wins over Sonoma State (3-0) and Chico State (3-1) to claim the CCAA Tournament championship as well. The conference championship was the first for the program since 2009.
Cal State LA was the No. 2 seed in the NCAA West Region and hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA playoffs. The Golden Eagles set new program marks for most shutouts (13), fewest goals allowed (10), consecutive wins (8) and longest unbeaten streak (14). In addition, the No. 5 national ranking was the best in the program’s history.
Under Harvey’s direction, the Golden Eagles also had their first Academic All-American and their first-ever first-team All-America selection.
Harvey guided the Golden Eagles through some early-season injury trouble and ultimately to a 10-6-3 overall record in 2013. After beginning conference play with a 0-3-1 record, the Golden Eagles surged to an 8-2-2 mark over the next 12 games to earn a spot in the four-team conference championship tournament. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead over tourney host and top-seed Cal State Stanislaus before falling, 3-2, in overtime, in a semi-final contest.
That was the Golden Eagles’ final game of the season even though they were ranked fifth in the final West Region poll. Six teams from the West Region qualified for the NCAA Championships, but the Golden Eagles fell out when two teams from outside the top six earned their conferences’ automatic berths.
The Golden Eagles’ late-season surge was highlighted by a thrilling double-overtime 1-0 win at UC San Diego on the final day of the regular season that got Cal State L.A. into the conference tournament.
It’s been a successful return to Cal State LA for Harvey, who spent four seasons with the Golden Eagles as an assistant coach and interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs, before becoming the head women’s soccer coach at Cal Poly Pomona. She led the Broncos to an outstanding 2012 season that resulted in Cal Poly Pomona’s first NCAA playoff appearance since 2001.
She directed the Broncos to a 10-6-3 overall record and an 8-4-3 mark in conference play in her final season at Cal Poly Pomona. The season was highlighted by a team-record 11-match unbeaten streak that helped the Broncos overcome a 1-4-1 start. During their 8-0-3 run, the Broncos outscored their opponents, 25-6.
Harvey had a 59-55-17 record at Cal Poly Pomona in her seven seasons leading the program. During her tenure, Harvey’s players earned 24 All-CCAA awards, two CCAA Freshman of the Year awards, a conference Newcomer of the Year award, four NSCAA All-West Region awards and two CoSIDA Academic All-District awards.
Harvey began her college coaching career at Cal State LA, where she was an assistant coach in 2001 before becoming the interim head coach for both programs in 2002. She was the top assistant coach for both programs in the 2003 and 2004 seasons before being hired as an assistant women’s coach at USC, where she was a star player for four seasons.
Harvey helped guide USC to a 13-6-4 overall record and into the NCAA playoffs in 2005.
She was then hired at Cal Poly Pomona in 2006 and spent the next seven years leading the Broncos.
Harvey also had an exceptional playing career and was honored by Quebec as its “Athlete of the Century.” She was presented with the Centennial Medal as one of the five leading figures to influence the development of soccer in the region with Harvey being recognized as a player.
In 2015, Harvey, as part of the 1998 Canadian National Team, was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and she was also honored with a Women of Influence award in Estrie Region.
Harvey started all three games for the Canadian National Team at the 1999 World Cup and registered two assists. She currently ranks 13th in Canadian history with 44 international caps. She also played for Ajax Fram, a semi-pro team, which won national championships from 2001-04.
Harvey was the Pac-10 Player of the Year at USC in 1998 and still holds school career records for goals, assists, game-winning goals and points. She is the only player in the program’s history to earn All-America honors all four seasons at USC. Harvey was the team MVP three times and a team captain during her final three years with the Trojans.
Harvey was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame in 2015 and into the Quebec Soccer Hall of Fame in 2016.
She achieved her “B” coaching license through the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2012. Harvey also earned a graduate degree in coaching and administration from Concordia University in Irvine in 2012 and recorded a grade point average of 4.0.
