The 2011 Ashford University women's soccer team became the first team in school history to win back-to-back Midwest Collegiate Conference regular season crowns, setting the bar very high for Head Coach Mick Regan entering his ninth season at the helm.

The Saints finished 2011 with an 11-6-2 record overall and included a 7-1-0 mark in conference tilts and a stretch of nine consecutive victories, a new school record.  He placed five members (four first-team selections) of the team on the All-MCC squad, running his career total to 36 overall, and had 18 members of the team garner MCC All-Academic accolades.

A year earlier, Coach Regan progressed the Saints' women's program to the pinnacle of the Midwest Collegiate Conference in a historic 2010 campaign that included a regular-season and tournament league title.

Recognized by his peers for the third time in his accomplished coaching career at Ashford, he was named the MCC's Coach of the Year following the 2010 season. He has invested five years in developing the men's soccer program and eight years, three solo, with the women's program.

In 2010, the Saints compiled a sterling 15-5-2 season record (7-1 in MCC play), including a season-record eight-game win streak in September. He navigated his youthful squad through the tricky postseason tournament bracket to punch the program's first ticket to the NAIA National Championships, outlasting nemesis Grand View University and rival St. Ambrose University in dramatic semifinal and championship game shootouts.

A single-season record total of seven student-athletes went on to collect all-conference accolades (four first-team selections), including the program's fifth NAIA All-American, midfielder Chelsea Fisher.

Since beginning his coaching career at then-Mount St. Clare College back in 2004, Regan has incrementally seen his single-season win totals spike, ascending from five (2006) to 10 (2007), 11 (2008), 12 (2009) and 15 (2010).

In 2004, Regan was named Men's Soccer Coach of the Year for the Midwest Collegiate Conference, an award he received again in 2007.

Originally from Leigh-on-Sea, England, a town 45 miles from London, he was part of a youth team that won a National Championship in England in 1994. He came to the U.S. on a soccer scholarship to attend Marycrest International University in Davenport, Iowa. While there, Regan completed a stellar playing career and was named Marycrest Athlete of the Year, All-Conference, All-Region and Academic All-American.

Upon graduation, Regan accepted a position as a teacher at Davenport Assumption High School where he taught AP biology and coached women's soccer. He led the team to back-to-back state championships in 2002 and 2003. In his years at AHS, the team had a record of 41-8-3 -- a remarkable turnaround from the 2-11 record they had the year before he took control of the program.

He also served as a coach at Davenport West High School where he led the men's soccer team to a second-place finish in the conference after going 0-10 the previous year.

Regan was also an assistant coach at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., from 2002-04, when it won its first conference title in school history.

Regan was also the Club Director (and founder) of the Quad Cities United Soccer Club, a premier club that showcases talent in the surrounding Quad Cities' area. He served as the Men's Conference Chair/National Rater for the 2008 season and held the title as the Women's Conference Chair/National Rater.

Regan owns a USSF National Goalkeeping License and also carries a USSF "A" National Coaching License, an achievement he accomplished this past summer in Lake Forest, Ill.

Regan and his wife, Nikki, currently reside in nearby Eldridge, with three sons, Liam, Luke and Timothy and one daughter, Molly.
 

Coaching Honors

• MCC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year (2004, 2007)
• MCC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year (2010)
• A.I.I. Women's Soccer Coach of the Year (2012)

The Regan File

• Assistant Women's Soccer Coach - Marycrest International University (1998-99)
• Founder/Director - Quad Cities United Soccer Club (2001-10)
• Head Girls Soccer Coach - Davenport Assumption High School (2001-03)
• Assistant Women's Soccer Coach - Augustana College (2002-03)
• Head Boys Soccer Coach - Davenport West High School (2003-04)
• Head Men's Soccer Coach - Ashford University (2004-08)
• Head Women's Soccer Coach - Ashford University (2004-Present)
   

Nick Roman enters his second season as a graduate assistant with the Ashford women's soccer coaching staff after accepting the position prior to the fall semester of 2011.

Roman specializes with the Saints' goalkeepers, a position he is well acquainted with after a standout four-year career straight out of Belvidere High School.  During the first season under his tutelage, junior goalkeeper Jerika Castillo was named MCC Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions and ranked in the top-25 (24th) nationally in saves per game.

Roman was another First-Team All-MCC recipient and pitched six consecutive shutouts in net behind the 2009 squad's remarkable postseason run. Also a four-time MCC Defensive Player of the Week, he allowed a paltry 0.82 goals per game as a senior while recording 70 saves.

Roman was also a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete and made a career-high 11 saves against Mt. Mercy University (Nov. 8) in his junior campaign. He blanked seven opponents last fall and accounted for 12 of the Saints' 13 wins in net.

Roman has also played two seasons for the Quad City Eagles, a semi-pro National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) affiliated club that plays throughout the summer months.

Roman is pursuing his Master's Degree in Business Administration after graduating from Ashford last year in Computer Graphic Design. Roman has been instrumental in making the Ashford University Sports Performance Yearly Awards (AUSPY's) a huge success the past two years.

Roman currently resides in Clinton.

The Roman File

• Volunteer Girls Soccer Coach - Belvidere High School (Ill.) (2006-07)
• Volunteer Club Soccer Coach - Rockford Raptors (2007-08)
• Graduate Assistant Women's Soccer Coach - Ashford University (2011-Present)

Sam Conrad joined the Ashford University coaching staff in July 2012 after closing the book on a decorated four-year career at the University of Evansville.  In her time at UE, Conrad was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference nominee and received a Second Team All-MVC nod as a defensive midfielder following her senior season.  During her final year, Conrad led the Aces to the MVC Women's Soccer Tournament Semifinals and earned a spot on the 2011 MVC All-Tournament squad. 

A native of Gilbert, Ariz., Conrad is a 2007 graduate of Gilbert High School where she was a four-year All-State honoree and a two-time First Team All-State award winner.  During her senior year, she led GHS with 15 goals and 18 assists while guiding the squad to the Class 5A State Finals.  Conrad was also a four-year letter winner in swimming.