ABILENE, Texas - Abilene Christian head women's soccer coach
Casey Wilson Tuesday announced that the Wildcats' first-year goalkeeping coach
Stephen Salas has been promoted to full-time assistant coach. Salas was part of ACU's first NCAA DI coaching staff that helped guide the Wildcats to a 13-5-1 overall record and 7-5 mark vs. the Southland Conference.
"Coach Salas joined the staff last summer and was immediately a good fit," said Wilson, who is at the start of his seventh season at ACU. "He proved in the fall how dedicated he is to this program and he brings a lot of energy everyday with his enthusiasm. I am pleased that he has joined us full-time."
A former championship goalkeeper at Hardin-Simmons, Salas worked with freshmen goalkeepers
Kelsey Dombrowski and
Sydney Newton throughout last fall and watched them combine for seven shutouts, 0.88 goals-against average, 81 saves and a .827 save percentage.
Newton's 0.84 GAA was the sixth lowest in the Southland Conference, while Dombrowski's mark of 0.91 was ranked seventh. Both net-minders also finished among the league's top-10 in save percentage.
"He did a great job with the keepers (Dombrowski and Newton) last fall as they all came here brand new," added Wilson. "Coach Salas has given them a good base so far in terms of their development, and I expect good things from all three in the future."
Salas joined the Wildcats following six years with Hardin-Simmons University as both player and assistant coach. He was the Cowboys' goalkeeper from 2008 to 2011 and helped his team win the 2009 American Southwest Conference Tournament and reach the NCAA Championships' Sweet 16 behind an overall record of 12-3-6.
Salas became an assistant and goalkeeping coach for the Cowgirls prior to the start of the 2011 season and helped lead them to 38 wins, a pair of conference regular season and tournament championships, and an appearance in the 2012 NCAA Sweet 16 in just two seasons. His goalkeepers allowed just eight goals (0.36 GAA) in each season and combined for 33 shutouts as HSU extended its regular-season conference unbeaten streak to a NCAA-record 157 matches.
During Salas' two years on the Cowgirls' bench, HSU finished 2011 ranked 12th by the NSCAA, seventh in 2012, and received two NSCAA/adidas team academic awards. The program also produced a national player of the year, five all-Americas, four academic all-Americas, 11 all-region selections and 14 all-conference honorees.
