Soccer Head Coach Susan Bush Receives Contract Extension
11/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Nov. 23, 2010
HOUSTON - University of Houston Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades announced today that soccer head coach Susan Bush has agreed to a two-year contract extension.
"We are excited that Susan Bush will remain the head coach of our soccer program," said Rhoades. "She has orchestrated the best record in program history with one of the youngest teams in the country and was named Conference USA Coach of the Year. We look forward to providing her the commitment she deserves as she takes the soccer program to new heights."
Bush led the Cougars to a 12-5-4 record this year, the most wins and the best record in program history.
"First, I want to thank the administration for their continued support of the Houston soccer program," said Bush. "The coaching staff and team feel rewarded for their hard work and achieving our goals for the 2010 season. This team has made significant strides in the last year and we are all excited to continue building a first-class program. I feel that with the stability of the program in place, our expectations and achievements will continue to grow."
Bush was honored as the C-USA Coach of the Year for engineering the biggest turnaround in the conference from 2009 to 2010. The Cougars improved their win total from four the previous year to 12 this season.
Two of her student-athletes, senior Lauri Byrne and sophomore Katelyn Rhodes, were named First Team All-Conference USA. Freshmen Danielle Munoz and Cami Koski were Second Team All-Conference selections. Munoz, Koski and Jasmine Martinez were named to the All-Freshman Team.
For all the success that Bush and the Cougars enjoyed, they worked through a great amount of adversity. In a one-week span, four starters were lost due to injury.
Buoyed by a strong defense and a balanced scoring attack, Houston was able to persevere and finish strong, tying for third place in the conference standings. Houston allowed only 0.59 goals per game, the 14th fewest out of 325 teams in the nation. It's defense posted the most shutouts in conference with 11.
The Cougar offense generated 1.7 goals per game and the goal differential of +23 goals was the 34th best in the nation.
Houston reached the C-USA Championship semifinals after they defeated Marshall in the opening round 3-0. After falling to eventual champion Memphis 0-1, Koski and Byrne were named to the All-Tournament Team.
All of this was accomplished with one of the youngest teams in the nation. Of the nine players who logged the most playing time in 2010, eight were freshmen or sophomores.
Assistant coaches Eric Quill and Jenna Huff also received one-year contract extensions.
