Northwestern University Athletics
Stephanie Erickson Leaves NU for Harvard
4/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
April 29, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern women's soccer assistant coach Stephanie Erickson was named the head coach at Harvard. The announcement was made today by Harvard Director of Athletics Bob Scalise.
Erickson -- a 1998 Northwestern alum who holds five Wildcat offensive records including the standards for career goals (29) and points (73) -- returned to Evanston following the 2003 season and recently completed her first campaign as a member of the Wildcats coaching staff.
Under her tutelage, the Wildcats made a leap into the upper half of the Big Ten standings in 2004, earning their first Big Ten Tournament berth since 2001 and finishing with a winning record in the conference for the first time since 1998. NU also won 10 matches for the first time since the '98 campaign.
"I am excited and honored about the opportunity Harvard has offered to me," said Erickson. "I look forward to the challenge and excitement of being the head women's soccer coach at such a world-class academic institution with an amazing athletic department.
"That said, as a Northwestern alum I have been and always will be passionate and proud of Northwestern University and its athletics. I will miss the team and athletic community here dearly, but this place never strays far from my heart."
This will be Erickson's second foray to Cambridge; she was an assistant coach under Tim Wheaton (whom she replaced) in 1999, when she helped lead the Crimson to the Ivy League championship. Harvard advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the eighth seed that season, before concluding the season ranked 15th by the NSCAA.
Prior to her arrival back at Northwestern, Erickson spent four seasons at Stanford. During that time, she helped guide the Cardinal to an overall mark of 60-21-5 and NCAA Women's College Cup appearances each year. She also was responsible for bringing in the nation's No. 10 recruiting class in 2003 and the No. 8 class in 2002.
As co-head coach of the Cardinal for the 2002 season, Erickson led her squad to an appearance in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Women's College Cup, a first-place finish and undefeated record in the Pac-10 Conference, and a 21-2 overall record. Erickson's team tallied 18 shutouts and saw action in its 12th postseason competition in the past 13 years. As a result, she was named 2002 Soccer America National Co-Coach of the Year.
In 2001, Erickson's second season on The Farm, Stanford finished with a 15-4-2 overall record, advanced to the third round of the NCAA Women's College Cup, and ended the season ranked ninth in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. In 2000, Erickson helped guide the Cardinal to a 14-6-1 overall record and to the second round of the NCAA Women's College Cup.
Prior to her first stint at Harvard, Erickson coached at Cal, helping the Golden Bears to the 1998 Pac-10 championship and a bid in the NCAA Tournament.
A four-year starting forward at Northwestern University (1994-98), Erickson is the all-time leading scorer in school history and was named the Wildcats' Offensive Most Valuable Player in 1994, 1996 and 1997. She helped lead the Wildcats to an NCAA Tournament bid in 1996, when she was named second-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-Great Lakes Region and won the Big Ten scoring title. In addition, Erickson scored a pair of goals in a span of five seconds to set the NCAA record for fastest consecutive goals scored in a game.
Erickson graduated with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education and Spanish; she was a three-time selection to the Academic All-Big Ten Team and a member of the Dean's list from 1996-98.
Erickson holds a "B" License from the United States Soccer Federation.
