Erickson Named UNI Women's Soccer Coach

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – University of Northern Iowa Director of Athletics David Harris has announced the hiring of Bruce Erickson as the new head women's soccer coach for the Panthers.

Erickson becomes the sixth head coach in the program's history and brings a wealth of experience to the position. Erickson most recently served as the head women's soccer coach at Wayne State (Neb.) for the past two years and prior to that was the head women's soccer coach at Creighton University from 1999-2014. In 24 years as a head coach at the collegiate level, Erickson has compiled an overall record of 246-203-42 (.544).

"We are excited to announce the addition of Bruce Erickson as the head coach of the UNI women's soccer program," Harris said. "We believe that Bruce has the right combination of leadership, experience and a proven track record of success within the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). Our soccer program ?made significant strides this past season and is poised to build on that momentum in 2017 and beyond. Bruce has won multiple MVC regular season and tournament championships and taken five teams to the NCAA tournament. We expect that Bruce will help us continue to build on our foundation while also giving our student-athletes stability in the leadership of our program. We look forward to having Bruce join the Panther family."

"I'd like to thank Christina Roybal (UNI's Senior Woman Administrator) and David Harris for this great opportunity to lead UNI women's soccer," Erickson said. "I have been blessed to work for great administrators in the past and look forward to working with them both in continuing the success of UNI soccer. I was impressed with everyone I met on my interview and can see why the athletic department is successful. I look forward to working with the team as we pursue winning a Missouri Valley Conference championship."

Erickson, a native of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, guided Wayne State to nine victories in 2016, the most wins for the NCAA Division II program since the 2006 season. In each season he was at Wayne State, the Wildcats earned the NSCAA team academic award.

At Creighton, Erickson was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (2002, 2010) and helped guide the Bluejays to five NCAA Tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010). Erickson ended his 16-year tenure at Creighton as the winningest coach in school history with a record of 163-125-32.

Erickson earned his bachelor of science degree in industrial organizational psychology from Viterbo University in 1990.

Erickson has three children – Emma (20), Olivia (18) and Noah (15).

In 2016, the UNI Panther women's soccer team earned its highest finish ever in the MVC by earning the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament. UNI had six players earn all-conference recognition – the most in the program's history. UNI set single-season school records for points (67), goals (27), goals per game (1.42), shots (250) and shutouts (7). UNI's eight wins tied for the second-most in school history behind the 2003 squad's total of 10 victories.

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