Ron Pulvers enters his fifth season as Head Coach of the Men's Soccer team at Cal State San Marcos. Pulvers has guided the Cougars to an overall record of 37-26-5 in four seasons of intercollegiate competition.
Pulvers led the Cougars to their most successful season in 2009. After a dismal 1-3 start, the Cougars went on to win ten of their next 14 matches and advanced to the AII Conference Tournament for the first time in the program's history. As the #3 seed the Cougars defeated #6 seed Embry-Riddle and the #2 seed St. Thomas, but would fall to nationally rated and #1 seed Simon Fraser (B.C.) 1-0. The Cougars ended the 2009 campaign 11-6-1.
The Cougars were led by senior forward Brandon Zuniga who scored ten goals, the second most scored in a single season. Brandon was honored as an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, NSCAA All-Far West Region selection, and All AII Conference choice. Joining Zuniga on the All AII Team were Troy Skomra, Chris Wyatt, Curtis Marcikic, Bradley Seidenglanz, and Jordan Shadeed. Troy Skomra was honored as an Academic All-American for the second consecutive year.
In 2008, Pulvers led the Cougars to an 8-7-3 record, narrowly missing out on a berth to the Association of Independent Institutions conference tournament. The most impressive of the eight wins was a 1-0 home result against the NAIA defending national champion Azusa Pacific. Of the seven losses, six were by a single goal. The Cougars were on the wrong side of a 2-1 overtime result with Cal State Los Angeles and a 5-3 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills. Both of those teams would advance to the NCAA II Western Region Championship. Cal State Dominguez Hills would go on to win that title and the NCAA II Championship. Senior Greg Reese and Junior Curtis Marcikic were named to the All AII Team. Troy Skomra was selected as a NAIA Academic All-American.
In 2007, faced with a significantly stronger schedule that featured only three home matches, Pulvers and his team struggled to respond to the added challenges of stronger competition. The Cougars ended the 2007 campaign 6-10-0, but not without many lessons learned.
Pulvers arrived on campus in January 2006 with the challenging task of building both the men's and women's inaugural soccer teams for the 2006 season. He quickly assembled a group of talented players from San Diego, Orange County and Riverside County. The Pulvers-led Cougars did not disappoint, surpassing all expectations by going 12-3-1 in their intercollegiate debut season, narrowly missing out on a postseason bid. The season was highlighted by a 2-1 result against NCAA II CSU Pomona in the first ever intercollegiate sporting event on the campus of Cal State San Marcos, a 1-0 win over NAIA top-25 and cross town rival Point Loma Nazarene, and a 1-0 victory at NAIA Region II top-5 Biola University. Although the Cougars fell short of a post-season appearance, the inaugural season was an enormous success and created an electrifying spirit around campus. Senior Ben Crouse was named to the Region II first team and NAIA honorable mention All-American.
Prior to arriving at CSUSM, Pulvers served as head coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., compiling a record of 126-70-14 in ten seasons. Pulvers led the Wildcats to five Heart of America Athletics Conference (HAAC) championships, two Midwest Region titles, and three consecutive appearances at the NAIA National Tournament. While at BU, Pulvers coached 35 All-Conference players, 13 All-Americans, and 14 Academic All-Americans. Pulvers was named the HAAC Coach of the Year in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Pulvers was also named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2002.
Pulvers played at Westmont College in Santa Barbara and graduated in 1994 with a B.A. in Kinesiology. Pulvers earned a M.S. in Kinesiology at Midwestern State University, Tex. in 1996. Pulvers holds a USSF "A" License and an Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA.
Pulvers resides in Carmel Valley and is married to Dr. Kimberley Pulvers. They have two boys, Miles (7) and Max (3).
