WOMEN'S SOCCER

Returning for his 12th season as head coach of Texas A&M University-Commerce is Neil Piper. The veteran head coach is the 12th winningest active head coach in NCAA Division II soccer has won three Lone Star Conference Championships and has been named Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year on two occasions.

Piper has led teams to the NCAA tournament four times, including an NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 1999. Piper has coached three All-Americans, 22 All-Region performers, and 67 All-Lone Star Conference performers.

Piper has built the A&M-Commerce soccer program to being one of the top programs on a regional and also a national level. In the last six years, the Lions have defeated 13 Top 25 teams, including two of the last three national champions.

In 2008, the Lions tied his 1999 and 2003 teams with a school record for the most wins in a season. Among the 16 wins were four victories over nationally-ranked teams. A&M-Commerce also made their eighth Lone Star Conference Tournament appearance and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Juniors Meagan Lasley and Taylor Jordan earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American honors, five earned all-region and eight were selected all-Lone Star Conference. In 2007, A&M-Commerce knocked off eventual national champion and No. 2 Tampa. Four Lions earned all-Lone Star Conference recognition and two were selected to the LSC All-Tournament Team.

In 2006, Piper and the Lions knocked off No. 2 Metro State at home and advanced to the championship game of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, losing a 1-0 decision to UCO. In 2005, A&M-Commerce was ranked as high as 14th in the middle of the season, suffered a first-round exit to Regis (Colo.) in the South Central Regional, but not before claiming the conference tournament with a double-overtime win against West Texas A&M. Earlier in the season the Lions knocked down the then-No. 2 Lady Buffs.

Piper’s teams have proven to be a quick study. Under his direction, it took two years to engrave his name in A&M-Commerce history, but LSC history too. He led the Lions to their first-ever LSC title and the conference’s first berth in the NCAA tournament. During the 1999 season, the Lions advanced to the NCAA Tournament and nearly advanced to the Final Four with a double-overtime defeat to the eventual national runner-up.

He joined the A&M-Commerce soccer coaching staff as an assistant in 1997 under Mike Munch. In 1998, he took over the Lions program and in his first year, the Lions posted their best season yet with a 13-6 record, only to re-write the record a year later with a 16-4-1 mark.

A 1996 graduate of Wichita State University, with a bachelor’s degree in education, Piper went on to complete his master’s degree in Sports Administration in 1998 from WSU.

Prior to transferring to WSU, Piper attended Penn State University and Friends University, playing soccer at both institutions. He was a member of the 1993 Penn State team, which became the first Nittany Lions athletic team to capture a Big 10 title. He also was named to the 1993 All-Big 10 First Team.

During his stay at WSU, Piper was sports editor of the Wichita State Sunflower and was a correspondent for the Wichita Eagle. Born September 8, 1972, in Portsmouth, England, Piper is the son of Norman (former soccer professional in England and U.S.) and Cheryl Piper.

He came to the United States in 1981 and remains a British citizen. He is married to the former Anne Cillessen and they have two children, eight-year-old Cole and five-year-old daughter Lauren.