About The Hosts
Nick Rizzo
Nick Rizzo is the fourth head coach in the 24-year history of the Fighting Scots women’s soccer program, taking the reins in January of 2016.
Rizzo’s impact on the team and the Midwest Conference has been immediate as the league’s coaches voted him the 2017 Coach of the Year after guiding the Scots to their first postseason tournament in four years. The squad finished second at the 2017 league tournament, the team’s highest finish since a runner up performance in 2013. Monmouth’s 11 wins in 2017 was just one victory shy of the program record, set in 2013.
Under his guidance, the Scots have produced back-to-back Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year honorees when Devin Cross earned the honor in 2017, a year after Kara-Jade Gordon earned the distinction in Rizzo’s first season. The 2017 campaign also saw two Scots – Cross and Gordon – earn all-league honors, the team’s first multi-award season since 2013, pushing Monmouth’s string of consecutive all-conference honorees to 16 years.
Monmouth's coach played in four NCAA Tournaments and coached in another, gaining collegiate coaching experience at a trio of schools before arriving at Monmouth. Rizzo served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at a pair of schools prior to joining the Monmouth staff.
As a student-athlete, Rizzo was a four-year starter and three-time all-conference selection at Loras College where he earned his undergraduates’ degree in education and mathematics. He completed his master’s degree in business administration at Aurora where he supervised the academic progress of the program’s student-athletes and conducted daily study sessions.
Education:
Bachelor of Science: Mathematics with an Endorsement in Education, Loras College, 2010
Masters of Business Administration with an Endorsement in Leadership, Aurora University, 2013
Coaching Career:
Monmouth College (2016-present, 18-17-3)
2016: 7-9-2
2017: 11-8-1, Midwest Conference Coach of the Year
Shaun Soderling
Shaun Soderling works as an assistant coach at Alderson Broaddus University. In his time as an assistant there, the staff has overseen a complete turnaround that led to the Battlers winning the 2016 GMAC Championship.
This past season, the Battlers finished the 2017 season with an 8-9-2 overall record. Many Battlers earned spots on the GMAC All Conference team and the Midwest All Region Team by United Soccer Coaches.
In 2016, the Battlers finished with an 11-7-2 overall record & were the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Champions following a 2-1 overtime victory against Cedarville to clinch the Championship. The Battlers had many players named to G-MAC All-Conference teams as well as the NSCAA All-Region team.
In 2015, AB went on to a 10-7-3 record & a berth into the G-MAC Championship game & junior defender Alec Andall received G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Midway through the 2015 season, the Battlers received their first ever ranking in the Top-25 Poll. The Battlers got a nod at No.16 prior to its October matchup with No.5 Charleston.
In 2014, the team went on to eight wins and 5-4 mark in the G-MAC earning AB a spot in the conference tournament. The Battlers defeated Kentucky Wesleyan 1-0 in the G-MAC opening round game. AB had three players selected to the G-MAC All-Conference Team and help Deshawn Parker achieve ECAC Freshman of the Year honors.
Soderling Coaching Career
Boys 02 Coach Midland Fusion, Midland, MI 6/2016-6/2018
Director of Operations, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN — 1/2013-7/2014
Create and publishing content for all social networking sites (i.e. Graphics, Videos, and content), Coordinator of the ProRehab – Score With The Aces: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds program for elementary schools in the Evansville Area, and assist ed in daily operations of team activities.
Varsity Soccer Head Coach, Vincennes Lincoln HS, Vincennes, IN — 2010-2013
Inheriting a young team that previously had struggled to perform in regular season, the 2010 Alices enjoyed a new season with a new high powered offense (scoring 65 goals) obtaining their 5th straight sectional championship while having a winning record for the first time in 3 years (11-8-1). The 2010 postseason awards saw 2 players named to the Big 8 All Conference and 5 Alices leading the Vincennes Sun-Commercial All Area team. During the season Soderling created a “winning/soccer atmosphere” within Vincennes Lincoln High School, that saw many new soccer fans each game and spirit wear worn by students throughout the school year. Using social networking (facebook, twitter, and alicesoccer.com), the Alice Soccer team became the team that it was “cool” to root for by teenage standards having theme nights at games and creating contests for fans to win Alice Soccer prizes. In 2011, with record numbers attending their games, the Alices offense boosted even more scoring a school record of 128 goals and 125 assists to the best record in the program’s history. The Alices were led by Erick Ramirez (54 goals, leader in Indiana, 2nd in nation), Kyle Richardville (40 assists, Indiana HS Season record, 2nd in nation) en route to a 16-2-1 record. The 2010 Hoosier Cup saw the Alices win the title for the first time in school history outscoring their opponents in the weekend 25 to 1. Many players received postseason awards as All-State (Ramirez), ISCA All-District (Ramirez and Richardville), ISCA Top Team Player Award (Cameron Claycomb), Big 8 All Conference (Ramirez, Richardville, Claycomb), Vincennes Sun-Commercial All Area (5 players), and the Indiana Elite Senior South Team (4). In 2012, the Alices’ once again set record numbers for attendance. Lincoln’s high powered offense boosted even more by breaking the IHSAA record for goals in a season with 150 goals while only allowing 19 goals. The Alices were led by Erick Ramirez (71 goals, Indiana Seasonal Record), Kyle Richardville (40 goals, 34 assists) en route to a school best 19-1 record. Postseason awards were NSCAA Academic All-American (Richardville), NSCAA All-Region (Ramirez), ISCA All-State (Ramirez, Richardville), ISCA All-District (Ramirez and Richardville), ISCA Top Team Player Award (Austin Leonard), Big 8 All Conference (Ramirez, Richardville, Claycomb), Vincennes Sun-Commercial All Area (7 players), and the Indiana Elite Senior South Team (5)./Junior Team (2) . The Alices were highly sought after for the next level with 5 of the 2012 seniors signing to play in college at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels.
Varsity Assistant Coach, Henderson Co HS, Henderson, KY — 2006-2009
Performed many tasks for Lady Colonels program from developing junior varsity players, assisting with designing training sessions for varsity players, scouting seasonal opponents to create a game plan, maintain team website, designing team gear, instructing off-season workouts, and created the Lady Colonel Soccer “Kick For A Cure” game. The Lady Colonels won the District Championship in 2007.
Varsity Head Coach, North Knox HS, Bicknell, IN — 2005-2006
In 2005 was named 2nd Girls Varsity Head Coach at the age of 20. In team’s 3rd year of being a Varsity program, led the Lady Warriors to their first multiple win season and the program’s first sectional victory. In the post season, the Lady Warriors accounted for 7 of 14 spots in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial’s All-Area Team and the program’s first year of having multiple players make the Blue Chip All-Conference team. In 2nd season at North Knox, success was continued as 6 players named to the All-Area team as well as 5 on the 2006 Blue Chip All-Conference team.
EDUCATION
United Soccer Coaches — Advanced National Diploma, 2017
Western Governors University, IN — Marketing/K-8 Studies 2010-2013 (On Hold)
United States Soccer Federation — National D License, 2008
Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN — AAS in Broadcasting, 2004
Boonville High School, Boonville, IN — Core 40 Diploma, 2002