 |
The first female head women's soccer coach in the history of the West Coast Conference, Shannon Stiles enters her 10th season at Gonzaga University. Stiles has the Bulldogs' program staked to be an annual contender in the WCC standings after putting together five straight winning seasons including five consecutive 10-plus win seasons, ending with last year's 12-7-1 mark. The 12 wins tied the school-record set by the 2005 squad and the six All-WCC selections are the second most in school history, one fewer than the seven players placed on the All-WCC team in 2005. In her nine seasons at Gonzaga, Stiles has coached 35 All-WCC selections, 12 All-Academic WCC selections, seven All-West Region selections and one All-American. Stiles coached the Zags to their fourth consecutive season with 10 or more wins, going 3-4-0 in WCC play for a fifth-place finish in 2006. The season was highlighted by five Bulldogs earning All-WCC accolades. In 2005, Stiles guided Gonzaga to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the Zags posted a 12-4-4 record to earn a spot in the postseason. En route to the NCAA's, the Bulldogs also earned the program's first national ranking, climbing as high as No. 18 in the Soccer Buzz poll. That season also marked the first All-America selection in the program's history as goalkeeper Ashley Haugen earned honorable mention accolades. The Bulldogs' success started in 2003 as Stiles was named the WCC Coach of the Year after guiding GU to an 11-8-0 record and 3-4-0 mark in the WCC. The three WCC wins by the 2003 team passed the Bulldogs' conference win total from the 10 previous years combined (two wins). Gonzaga showed that 2003 was no fluke as they posted its second 11-win season with an 11-9-0 record in 2004 and finished tied for fourth in the WCC with a 3-4-0 mark. A native of Spokane, the former Shannon Douglas graduated from Shadle Park High School where she was a three-time All-Greater Spokane League pick as well as being the league's MVP as a sophomore. From Shadle Park she moved on to play collegiately for Santa Clara University. At SCU, she started all 35 matches her junior and senior seasons as a midfielder after appearing in 12 of 16 contests as a sophomore. Her sophomore season of 1990 the Broncos advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals, with Stiles scoring the only goal in Santa Clara's loss to the University of Connecticut. She was named the team's Most Improved Player that year. During her junior season, Stiles was the fourth-leading scorer for the Broncos, registering three goals and an assist for seven points. Stiles had the game-winning goal against the University of California in the 70th minute giving the Broncos a 1-0 win. She capped her career as a senior in 1992 leading Santa Clara in assists with six. The Broncos advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the third time in her four-year career. Stiles earned All-Far West recognition after landing on the All-WCC second-team. She was also named Santa Clara's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Following graduation from Santa Clara in 1993, she was a volunteer assistant coach at Washington State University in 1993 and the junior varsity coach at Spokane's Ferris High for both boys and girls from 1996-97. In the fall of 1997, Stiles joined the Gonzaga women's soccer program for the first time, serving as an assistant coach on Ric Grenell's staff. That Bulldog team posted the most wins in school history with an 8-12-0 record and tied for seventh place in the West Coast Conference. In 1998, Stiles re-joined the high school ranks serving as the head girl's coach at Spokane's Lewis and Clark High School where she also taught chemistry. Stiles accepted her first collegiate head coaching job in January of 1999, replacing interim coach Julie Polsin. Stiles made an immediate impact on the Gonzaga program, guiding the Bulldogs to a 7-13-0 campaign and sole possession of seventh place in the WCC. On Oct. 31, 2002, Stiles became the Bulldogs' career coaching leader in victories as she collected her 16th career win with a 1-0 victory over the University of Idaho. Married to former Santa Clara men's soccer player Chris Stiles, the couple has three daughters, Emily (1998), Payton (2000) and Kylie (2004). Stiles holds a USSF National "B" coaching license. |
|||||||||||||
